Examining the factor structure of narrative meaning-making for stressful events and relations with psychological distress

Abstract

This study examined the underlying factor structure of 15 narrative meaning-making indices for narratives of stressful events, and explored the incremental validity of the narrative factor solution over and above general personality traits in predicting various indices of psychological well-being. Two-hundred and twenty four undergraduates (M = 19.2 years, SD = 2.1; 114 males and 110 females; 67.6% Caucasian, 12.0% East Asian, 7.6% African-American, 4.0% South Asian, 2.2% Hispanic, and 6.7% as mixed or Other origin) wrote about the most traumatic experience in their life, and completed a series of psychological questionnaires. The narratives were coded in 15 ways theoretically derived from the narrative meaning-making literature. A series of exploratory structural equation models indicated that a four-factor solution best approximated the data. The four factors were: positive processing, negative processing, integrative meaning, and structure. All four factors related differentially to indices of well-being over and above traits. There appear to be four distinct, but related, factors of narrative meaning-making for memories of stressful events, which shed light on the nuanced relations with well-being.

The empirical structure of narrative identity: The initial Big Three.

“…That is, one may understand the self and one's past, but that understanding is not necessarily about wellbeing unless it is linked to some positive interpretation (see King, 2001;Pals, 2006). Consistent with this idea, in the few instances when the distinction between positive and negative autobiographical reasoning has been made in coding systems, the associations with well-being are clear and in the expected directions (e.g., Graci et al, 2018;Lilgendahl & McAdams, 2011). associations with traits, as well as incremental validity in predicting well-being beyond traits (Adler et al, 2016; see also footnote 3).…”

“…There is one extant paper that has addressed the factor structure of narrative using a broad-based, comprehensive set of codes (Graci, Watts, & Fivush, 2018; see also Adler et al, 2018, for an analogous but more specifically focused analysis of the factor structure of narrative coherence). This study was limited in its analysis of only one sample and a single prompt of only one type of narrative (a stressful event), given recent evidence that there is variability in narrative features by prompt (sometimes moreso than by person) (e.g., McLean, Pasupathi, The Structure of Narrative Identity 11 Greenhoot, & Fivush, 2016).…”

“…It was also oriented more towards the stress and coping literature rather than the personality literature as was evident in some of the features chosen to capture (e.g., support-seeking, rumination), but it informs our thinking. Using exploratory structural equation models with a sample of college-going emerging adults, Graci et al (2018) found evidence for four factors that they termed positive processing, negative processing, integrative meaning, and structure. The positive and negative processing factors captured the emotional intensity of the narratives.…”

“…In terms of structure, generally more organized, detailed, and elaborated narratives are associated with greater well-being and lesser psychiatric disturbance (e.g., Adler, Chin, Kolisetty, & Oltmanns, 2012;Baerger & McAdams, 1999;Lysaker et al, 2002). However, the degree to which the event is highly negative (e.g., Graci et al, 2018) or more closely identity-related (Waters & Fivush, 2014) also matters.…”

Integration and differentiation of self through reminiscing and narrative

“…And these narratives matter. Adults who tell more coherent, elaborated and integrated narratives about their personal past show higher levels of identity and well‐being (Adler, Lodi‐Smith, Philippe, & Houle, ; Graci, Watts, & Fivush, ). Developmentally, children are learning the forms and functions of personal narratives in family reminiscing, and children whose mothers reminisce in more coherent and elaborated ways have children who develop more coherent, detailed and emotionally integrated personal narratives, which in turn is related to higher levels of self‐esteem, emotional adjustment and, in adolescence, a sense of meaning and purpose in life (see Fivush, , for a review).…”