Tekanan Emosional dan Resiliensi : Narasi Kehidupan Anak Pertama Perempuan Pasca Perceraian Orang Tua

Abstract

Parental divorce is an event that carries profound emotional consequences for children, particularly firstborn children who structurally bear greater role burdens within the family following the separation. This study aims to analyze in depth the process of resilience formation in firstborn children who experience emotional distress due to parental divorce through the narrative of their life experiences. This study employed a qualitative approach using a narrative research design of the life history type. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, nonparticipant observation, and documentation involving two female informants who are firstborn children from divorced families, aged 23 and 30 years, both of whom have demonstrated resilience in their adult lives. Data analysis was conducted inductively through stages of data management, in-depth reading, category development, interpretation, and restorying. The findings revealed that the process of resilience formation unfolds through five phases that are dynamic and cyclical in nature, namely the phase of helplessness, the phase of survival, the phase of recovery, the phase of acceptance, and the phase of resilience formation. Emotional distress experienced by the informants encompassed the loss of a primary emotional anchor, accumulation of unexpressed emotions, chronic anxiety about the future, the burden of parentification, and social stigma from the surrounding environment. Resilience was formed through the interaction between internal protective factors, including spirituality, self-reflection, and self-efficacy, and external protective factors, including support from mothers, partners, and peer networks. This study concludes that parental divorce does not inevitably result in long-term psychological damage, as individuals retain the potential to develop into more adaptive persons when provided with adequate emotional support and space to positively reframe their life experiences.