Resilient Self-Talk in University Students Raised by Alcohol-Misusing Caregivers in Lesotho

ABSTRACT

Research on young people raised by caregivers who misuse substances, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, has focused mainly on the negative experiences and the cumulative effects. This study offers an understanding of resilient self-talk, emphasizing internal dialogs and conversations that enabled positive outcomes in young adults raised by caregivers who misused alcohol. An individual resilience approach guided this study. In-depth interviews combined with the draw-write-and-tell methodology were held with 15 university students. The constructivist grounded theory analysis methods were used for the visual data and data collected through interviews. The research produced four themes, namely (i) goal-oriented resilient self-talk, (ii) motivational focused resilient self-talk, (iii) resilient self-talk and substance misuse abstinence, resilient self-talk, and character molding. Thus, self-talk strategies can be adapted as psychological approaches used by young adults facing adversities to improve their well being.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• caregivers
• resilient self-talk
• alcohol-misusing
• young adults

Acknowledgments

To all the NUL students who volunteered to be interviewed in this study, thank you very much for confidently and openly sharing your lived experiences with us. We remain moved by your strength and resilience.

Our appreciation also goes to the National University of Lesotho (NUL) administrators for granting us permission to carry out this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.