Applying Salutogenesis Theory in the Context of Intergenerational Trauma
Image: The Swiss Army Knife: Adaptive Application of Theory Across Contexts (Source: Root-Bernstein, R. “The Sparks of Genius Challenge.” Psychology Today)
Posted by: Yen Pham1,2
As a “spoiled” student of a Salutogenesis enthusiast, Marguerite Daniel1, I did not stray far from her teachings, and immersed myself deeply in Salutogenesis theory. However, diving into Salutogenesis research ecology, where Salutogenesis is inspiringly applied across diverse topics and settings, my doubt began to surface one day. I start wondering whether I am theoretically “dressing up” my research with Salutogenesis and if I am falling into the “one-size-fits-all” trap in applying theory.
The doubt surfaced while I was conducting data analysis about the intergenerational trauma experiences of Vietnamese Boat Refugees in Norway. In my study, the adult children of Vietnamese Boat Refugees did overcome the negative impacts of childhood trauma-shaped family interactions. Their adult reflections on childhood life and future direction were clearly relevant to Sense of Coherence development.
But seriously, could developing Sense of Coherence serve as a pathway to grow beyond intergenerational trauma?
The Sense of Coherence framework alone does not seem sufficient to enable us response to this question convincingly. Stepping back and looking closer to nature of intergenerational trauma, which is expressed through negative family dynamics, we found the solution proposed by Bowen Family Systems Theory (Bowen, 1966, 1993). That is, developing a differentiated self is the pathway to outgrowing the negative impacts of one’s family, instead of maintaining a confused self where individuals continue being passively directed by family impacts, which serves as a mechanism of repeating trauma-impacted patterns across generations. But how can one shift from being influenced by maladaptive family interactions to acquiring a differentiated self? Does this ring a bell? From the Salutogenesis perspectives, this mobilization towards a better health outcome characterizes a process of enhancing the sense of coherence, facilitated by generalized resistance resources (GRRs). The combination of Bowen Family Systems Theory and Sense of Coherence helps us to adequately describe the pathways to grow beyond intergenerational trauma. Interestingly, comprehensibility, rather than meaningfulness, likely play a primary role in initiating the whole process of meaning-making and reframing child-parent interactions for adulthood recovery from intergenerational trauma in this study (Pham & Daniel, 2026).
Returning to a broader point, the Sense of Coherence framework is inspiring but of course, there might not be “one-size-fits-all” theory. Flexibly combining it with Bowen Family Systems Theory expands our application of Salutogenesis in the context of intergenerational trauma, to address that developing Sense of Coherence serves as pathways for recovery in adulthood from trauma-shaped family interactions.
Affiliation: 1Department of Health Promotion and Development, University of Bergen, Norway; 2 Research Center for Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Finland.
Acknowledgement: AI was used to assist with language editing of this blog post.
References
Bowen, M. (1966). The use of family theory in clinical practice. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 7(5), 345–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-440X(66)80065-2
Bowen, M. (1993). Family therapy in clinical practice. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Pham, Y., & Daniel, M. (2026). Developing a Strong Sense of Coherence as a Pathway Beyond Intergenerational Trauma: Narratives of Adult Children of Vietnamese Boat Refugees. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(2), 266. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23020266
