Stories of Life Transition: Subjective Well-Being and Ego Development in Parents of Children with Down Syndrome

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

12-2000

Abstract

Eighty-seven parents of children with Down Syndrome (DS; 63 women, 24 men) wrote narratives about finding out that their child had DS and completed questionnaire measures of subjective well-being (SWB) and stress-related growth and completed the Sentence Completion Test as a measure of ego development. Forty-two of these individuals participated in a follow-up 2 years later. Foreshadowing and happy endings in the stories were related to heightened SWB at both time periods. Evidence of accommodative change—actively experiencing a paradigmatic shift—was related to stress-related growth and ego development at both time periods. A high sense of closure and accommodation in the stories was associated with the highest levels of stress-related growth. Implications for research on well-being and personal growth are discussed.

Keywords

Subjective well-being, Down Syndrome, parents, ego development

Discipline

Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Journal of Research in Personality

Volume

34

Issue

4

First Page

509

Last Page

536

ISSN

0092-6566

Identifier

10.1006/jrpe.2000.2285

Publisher

Elsevier

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.2000.2285

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