FAMILY NARRATIVES AS A FACTOR IN SHAPING YOUTH RESILIENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF MILITARY CONFLICT

Abstract

The full-scale military invasion of Ukraine is altering the psychological environment for young people in ways that require immediate attention to understand the mechanisms that allow for enduring psychological strength and recovery. The article is devoted to explore the potential role of family narratives in developing the resilience of young people in the face of prolonged military conflict. The purpose of this study is to apply contemporary psychological theories and empirical research to explain how family storytelling, intergenerational memory, and narrative coherence can serve as protective factors against the negative effects of traumatic experiences on young people. In order to accomplish this objective, the study will employ a systematic review of the literature and theoretical synthesis of research concerning trauma, conducted globally and specifically in Ukraine, from 2022 to 2025. The results of the study demonstrate that elaborate and coherent family narratives represent a cognitive base for making sense of traumatic experience and integrating it into a stable sense of self. Family stories that reflect survival through past historical challenges (resilience roadmaps) also contribute to a sense of agency and decrease internalized symptoms such as anxiety. The study demonstrates that the transgenerational transmission of coping models is an important factor in preserving psychological well-being and represents the family as an ecologically resilient unit. The most significant contribution of this study is its ability to develop a new theoretical framework regarding the role of narratives as a multi-systemic engine of resilience. A practical application of this study's findings is the development of narrative-based interventions that could potentially support recovery efforts in post-conflict Ukraine. Future directions for this line of inquiry would include conducting longitudinal studies on the evolution of narratives in the years following the reconstruction period.