The lived experiences of resilience among mothers with histories of abuse
Angelina A. Pillone & Kyla Mae D. Casen
Abstract
This narrative qualitative study investigates how Filipino mothers with histories of abuse develop resilience through motherhood within their everyday realities. The purpose is to explore the psychological mechanisms and cultural factors that enable these mothers to transition from trauma to transformative caregiving. Utilizing a narrative inquiry approach, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with five survivor-mothers in Lucena City, Philippines selected through snowball sampling and analyzed the data using thematic narrative interpretation. Findings reveal that motherhood serves as a vital turning point and awakens inner strength and a commitment to breaking intergenerational cycles of violence through gentler, communicative parenting. Despite financial struggles, participants navigated trauma by leaning on informal safety networks, such as siblings, neighbors, and kumares, and drawing courage from faith and their children. Parenting functions as a space for identity reconstruction and healing. Therefore, local government units and social workers should integrate these culturally grounded, informal support systems and spiritual strategies into formal trauma-informed parenting interventions to better support long-term maternal recovery.
Keywords
motherhood, trauma-informed parenting, informal networks, Filipino survivor-mothers
Author information & Contribution
Angelina A. Pillone. Corresponding author. 4th Year BS Psychology Student, College of Sciences, Technology and Communications Inc. Email: angelsofiapillone@gmail.com
Kyla Mae D. Casen. 4th Year BS Psychology Student, College of Sciences, Technology and Communications Inc. Email: casenkyla@gmail.com
“All authors equally contributed to the conception, design, preparation, data gathering and analysis, and writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This work was supported by the affiliated institution of the authors, particularly through the support of the Psychology Department for the conference registration and presentation fees.
AI Declaration
The author declares the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in writing this paper. In particular, the author used Gemini (AI) for the purposes of summarizing key research points and paraphrasing ideas to improve narrative flow. The author takes full responsibility in ensuring proper review and editing of contents generated using AI.
Notes
This paper has been presented in the 3rd International Student Research Congress (ISRC 2026).
Acknowledgement
The authors express their deepest gratitude to the five mothers who bravely shared their stories; this research exists only because of your courage, and it is an honor to serve as a voice for your resilience. We also extend sincere appreciation to our research adviser, Ms. Hayselle Pagkaliwagan, MAC, RPm, LPT, for her invaluable guidance and unwavering support throughout every stage of this study.
Special thanks are due to Mr. Argelou Paderes, RPsy, RPm, and the faculty of the College of Sciences, Technology and Communications Inc. (CSTC) for fostering an environment of academic excellence. We further acknowledge the CSTC Research Ethics Board Committee and the college administration for their institutional support, ethical oversight, and commitment to advancing meaningful undergraduate research.
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Cite this article:
Pillone, A.A. & Casen, K.M.D. (2026). The lived experiences of resilience among mothers with histories of abuse. International Student Research Review, 3(1), 135-153. https://doi.org/10.53378/isrr.219
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) International License.
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