Society & Culture - Posted by Beth Kurylo-Emory on Thursday, March 11, 2010 18:07 - 4 Comments 
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(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...Knowing their family history helps kids cope
Using a “Do You Know” scale researchers measured knowledge of family history. Teens who knew more stories about their extended family showed “higher levels of emotional well-being, and also higher levels of identity achievement, even when controlling for general level of family functioning,” the researchers report. “There is something powerful about actually knowing these stories.” (Courtesy: iStockphoto)
EMORY (US)—Children show higher levels of emotional well-being if they know stories about relatives who came before them.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
Emory University psychologists Robyn Fivush and Marshall Duke analyzed dinner time conversations and other measures of how well families work and found that family stories are a critical part of an adolescent’s emerging identity.
“Family stories provide a sense of identity through time, and help children understand who they are in the world,” the researchers write in the study published in Emory’s online Journal of Family Life.
Researchers developed a “Do You Know” (DYK) scale to measure how much children knew about family history and intergenerational family stories. The 20 yes/no questions ask the child to report if they know such things as how their parents met, or where they grew up and went to school.
Researchers studied 66 middle-class, mixed-race, 14- to 16-year old adolescents from two-parent families.
Participants completed the DYK scale, and multiple standardized measures of family functioning, identity development, and well-being.
Teens who knew more stories about their extended family showed “higher levels of emotional well-being, and also higher levels of identity achievement, even when controlling for general level of family functioning.”
“There is something powerful about actually knowing these stories,” the study concludes.
The authors caution, however, that since this is the only study to use the DYK scale, more research is needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
The research was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Emory University news: www.emory.edu/home/news/
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4 Comments
Anne
Thank you for affirming an important part of family life. in my work, I have noticed that family story telling is a vital contribution that grandparents, aunts and uncles can make. It does not matter how silly, serious or old the episodes that we share. Somehow, each one can become a touchstone for family identity and strength.
Our school started a 10-year time-capsule and 8th grade class reunion project centered on letters 8th graders write to themselves about their lives, stories from their life, and their plans for the future. The letters are kept in a 350-pound vault bolted to the floor in our school lobby under spotlights. It is centrally located to remind students of their plans for the future. They know that when they return they will be invited to speak with then current 8th graders about their recommendations for success.
Our project also stirs up the documenting of many family stories. I think this research is powerful reinforcement for what we are doing. Our dropout rates are going down significantly and we are having record sized graduation classes.
I worked for 28 years in child placement and became a strong open adoption advocate due to the need for adoptees to know their birth family stories. See http://www.openadoption.org. This is a lesson with many applications!
This is wonderful. I am involved as an independent heritage maker in helping others to preserve their family stories, photos and memories in books, posters, canvases, playing cards, calendars, etc so that they can share their that heritage for generations. This article is so in tune with my efforts. I also have a masters in archiving and museum so again, preservation of past for the future. The self esteem of a child is so strengthened when he/she holds and uses a book all about them and their family. A tangible reminder of how important they are to their family and friends.
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Our school is doing a project called “Family Oral History” project. We are interviewing our family members and digging out valuable family histories. I think this article encouraged me very much. Thanks for the article, and I find the Futurity site very useful for my English education(You see, I’m a Korean, and I have a long way to go in English education).