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.
