How Venezuelan mothers and their young children use storytelling to process immigration journeys

Introduction The population of Venezuelans living in the U.S. increased dramatically between 2010 and 2023 in response to the economic, political, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela that prompted the mass displacement of 6 million of its citizens who were fleeing generalized violence, poverty, food insecurity, economic disempowerment, lack of access to health care and education, and political persecution. To arrive in the U.S., many Venezuelan migrants took dangerous routes through the Darién Gap, a roughly 10,000 square mile tropical jungle spanning northern Colombia and southern Panamá with no roads or bridges. The present study explores storytelling as a core strategy through which Venezuelan immigrant mothers help their young children process their migration from Venezuela to the United States. Methods As part of a larger project on science in stories (Ciencia en relatos), Latine caregivers in New York, Chicago, and San José, California were asked to share a science- or nature-related story with their 3–5-year-old children. Seven mothers who recently arrived from Venezuela to Chicago and New York City chose to share stories about their immigration experiences, specifically traveling through the Darién jungle with their families. In this in-depth thematic analysis, we were interested in how mothers and children used storytelling to process their immigration journey. Results We found that 4 mothers told autobiographical reminiscing stories—personal memory narratives of experiences they shared with their children—and 3 told fictionalized stories based on real-life events. By selectively constructing and reframing the immigration narrative, mothers may be utilizing storytelling to help children process their past experiences and transmit adaptive emotion regulation strategies and resilience scripts. Across the stories, we identified six adaptive coping strategies: transparency about stressors, cognitive reappraisal, relying on social support, using nature as a resource, spirituality, and empowering messages to protect their young children during what has been described as a harrowing and difficult time. Discussion These findings underscore the critical role narrative can play as a mechanism for coping during periods of high stress. This research provides unique insight into the narrative practices of Venezuelan immigrant families and contributes to the developmental science literature on how parent-child storytelling functions as an effective tool for fostering socioemotional strength in early childhood.