Role Of Cumulative Trauma And Meaning In Life On Psychological Wellbeing Of Adolescent Orphans In Western Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the role of cumulative trauma and meaning in life on psychological

wellbeing of adolescent orphans in Western Nigeria. Participants were 696 adolescent orphans

(284 = males, 413 = females) who were selected from eighteen (18) orphanages in Lagos, Oyo

and Ondo States, using cluster sampling technique. The average respondent age was 15.24 (SD =

2.09, ranging from 12 to 18 years). They completed the Yoruba and English versions of the

Cumulative Trauma Scale-short version (CTS-S), Brief Personal Meaning Profile (PMP-B) and

Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT). Results revealed that cumulative trauma appraisal (CTA) did

not predict psychological wellbeing. Cumulative trauma frequency (CTF) was a negative

significant predictor of psychological wellbeing (β = -.31, t = -6.38, p < .001). Meaning in life

(PMP) was shown to be a positively significant predictor of psychological wellbeing (β = .11, t =

3.07, p < .01). The findings underscore the importance of examining the broader contexts of

orphanhood and the differences in cumulative trauma and meaning in life when seeking to

understand factors that influence psychological wellbeing among adolescent orphans.

Implications for research and practice were discussed and directions for future research were

proposed.

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