Dissertation
The Lived Experiences of Highly Mobile Military Adolescents and Their Search for Identity
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2020
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/112317
Abstract
Military children face challenging experiences that can have a direct impact on their identity development in adolescence. Among these challenges are frequent relocations that require them to part from established peer relationships and integrate into new social settings during times when they are searching for who they are in comparison to the world around them. Previous literature has looked at high mobility in military children and adolescents from psychological, social work, and academic perspectives; however, a gap in literature exists in understanding how nurses and heath care providers could best support military children through the developmental milestones in adolescence. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of highly mobile military adolescents and the impact that high mobility has had on their own identity. Military adolescents between the ages of 16 and 18 were interviewed using a semi-structured approach. An interpretive phenomenological design informed the interview and analytic approach, which includes humanistic interpretation through hermeneutic circles. Four major themes emerged, including: Self Perspective in the World, Building Relationships, Overwhelming Emotions, and Fostering Health Transitions. Several subthemes also surfaced. This study led to the understanding of what it meant to be as a highly mobile military adolescent and the conformation towards an identity (foreclosure) they experienced throughout their childhood, which led to periods of maladaptiveness.
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Details
- Title
- The Lived Experiences of Highly Mobile Military Adolescents and Their Search for Identity
- Creators
- Jennifer Sztybel Thomas
- Contributors
- Denise A. Smart (Advisor)Mel Haberman (Committee Member)Tullamora Landis (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Nursing, College of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 82
- Identifiers
- 99900581808401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation