Trauma history and personal narratives: Some clues to coping among survivors of child abuse

Narrative features of the life stories of child abuse survivors and nonvictimized respondents were compared. Particular emphasis was placed on relatively ''objective'' features, given that the content of the narrative typically precluded blind coding. The research focused on both the relative emphasis on the past versus present and future and on the self versus others in respondents' stories. The narratives of child abuse survivors differed from the comparison group on both of these features; their stories focused more on the past and de-emphasized the central role of the self. Greater emphasis on others was the best predictor of poor present coping among child abuse survivors. The narratives of a second sample of respondents who reported having experienced traumatic parental divorce were studied for comparison purposes. Despite some similarities in narrative construction, the increased emphasis on others, with its maladaptive associations, was unique to child abuse survivors.