Making Up for Lost Time : A Narrative Interview Study of Parentally Suicide Bereaved Female Swedish Young Adults' Transition to Adulthood

Sammanfattning

This study explores the transition to adulthood among female Swedish young adults aged between 18-29 years who experienced the loss of a parent to suicide during childhood. Drawing on a narrative research approach, eight qualitative thematic interviews were conductedand analyzed using a narrative thematic and positioning analysis. The theoretical framework integrates life course perspectives on the transition to adulthood, Goffman's 'social role' theory and concept of 'courtesy stigma', Merton's 'reference group' theory, and Eagly, Wood, and Diekman's 'social role theory of sex differences'. Findings show that traditional adulthood markers - leaving school, start working, moving out, marrying, and becoming a parent - only partially capture the experiences of this target group. Early in their lives, the interviewees took on household responsibilities and cared for family members, thus accelerating their maturity in ways conventional markers miss. The findings suggest that adulthood is negotiated and situational through comparisons with peers, rather than defined by fixed milestones. The interviewees feel like adults in some instances, but not in others as they have not had the same parental support as their peers. The parental support they lack is narrated in terms of gender roles: fathers are associated with practical support and mothers with emotional and relational support.