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To Live, Not Only Survive - An Ongoing Endeavor: Resilience of Adult Swedish Women Abused as Children.
University West, NU-akademin Väst. University West, Department of Health Sciences, Section for nursing - graduate level. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg (SWE). (LOV)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7915-8972
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg (SWE).
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg (SWE).
School of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Örebro University, Örebro (SWE).
2021 (English)In: Frontiers in Public Health, E-ISSN 2296-2565, Vol. 9, article id 599921Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background: A significant proportion of individuals exposed to maltreatment in childhood adapt positively in adulthood despite the adversities, i.e., show resilience. Little is known about resources and processes related to adulthood that promote resilience. Since women are overrepresented as victims of intrafamilial violence, understanding resilience among adult women is important. Objective: To explore experiences of resilience among adult women who perceive well-being and well-functioning although being exposed to maltreatment during childhood. Participants and Setting: This study included 22 women with experiences of childhood maltreatment, mean age of 48 years, living in Sweden. Methods: Individual interviews were conducted and analyzed according to constructivist grounded theory. Results: The process of resilience was experienced as an ongoing endeavor to live, not only survive, an internal process that interacted with external processes involving social relations and conditions. This endeavor was built on four interrelated resources: establishing and maintaining command of life; employing personal resources; surrounding oneself with valuable people; and reaching acceptance. These worked together, not in a linear or chronological order, but in up and down ways, turns and straight lines (now and then), through the process from maltreatment to well-being. Conclusion: Resilience was found to rest on intrapersonal and interpersonal resources. Individual's inherent capabilities can be, depending on life circumstances and available resources, realized in a way that promote well-being and well-functioning despite severe adversities. Therefore, public health initiatives, social services, and policies should provide conditions that help women maltreated in childhood to live fully rather than merely to survive.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. Vol. 9, article id 599921
Keywords [en]
adult women, childhood maltreatment, public health, qualitative, resilience, well-being
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology Psychiatry
Research subject
NURSING AND PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE, Nursing science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-17465DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.599921ISI: 000627125500001PubMedID: 33732675Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85102446035OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hv-17465DiVA, id: diva2:1599238
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2016-00965Available from: 2021-09-30 Created: 2021-09-30 Last updated: 2024-09-04Bibliographically approved

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Gunnarsdottir, Hrafnhildur

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