Keep Calm and Carry On: The Relations Between Narrative Coherence, Trauma, Social Support, Psychological Well-Being, and Cortisol Responses

Abstract

In order to explain trauma resilience, previous research has been investigating possible risk and protective factors, both on an individual and a contextual level. In this experimental study, we examined narrative coherence and social support in relation to trauma resilience. Participants were asked to write about a turning point memory, after which they did the Maastricht Acute Stress Test, our lab analog of a traumatic event. Following, half of the participants received social support, whereas the other half did not. Afterwards, all participants wrote a narrative on the traumatic event. Moment-to-moment fluctuations in psychological and physiological well-being throughout the experiment were investigated with state anxiety questionnaires and cortisol measures. Results showed that narratives of traumatic experiences were less coherent than narratives of turning point memories. However, contrary to our predictions, coherence, and, in particular, thematic coherence, related positively to anxiety levels. Possibly, particular types of thematic coherence are a non-adaptive form of coping, which reflect unfinished attempts at meaning-making and are more similar to continuous rumination than to arriving at a resolution. Furthermore, coherence at baseline could not buffer against the impact of trauma on anxiety levels in this study. Contrary to our hypotheses, social support did not have the intended beneficial effects on coherence, neither on well-being. Multiple explanations as to why our support manipulation remained ineffective are suggested. Remarkably, lower cortisol levels at baseline and after writing about the turning point memory predicted higher coherence in the trauma narratives. This may suggest that the ability to remain calm in difficult situations does relate to the ability to cope adaptively with future difficult experiences. Clinical and social implications of the present findings are discussed, and future research recommendations on the relations between narrative coherence, social support, and trauma resilience are addressed.

Family relationships as a source of narrative identity of people with advanced dementia

“…However, if they experienced family-related trauma, their narrative identity looped, becoming an iterated trauma story with a singular self-image of a hero or a victim. Vankeen et al [ 12 ] show that narratives of traumatic experiences were less coherent, reflected unfinished attempts at meaning-making, and shared similarities with continuous rumination. Thus, perseveration of narrative threads by people with dementia is not just a symptom of cognitive impairment [ 63 ] but may also mark a non-adaptive form of coping with important life-events of a possible traumatic background.…”

“…Integrating the meaning of stressful experiences also impacts our ability to cope with stress and can slow or accelerate biological aging [ 5 ]. Therefore, recently the function of narrative identities has been studied in the context of living with chronic somatic diseases, such as endometriosis [ 6 ], HIV [ 7 ] or cancer [ 8 ], and coping with various types of mental disorders like mood disorders [ 9 ], bipolar disorder [ 10 ], psychosis spectrum [ 11 ], PTSD [ 12 ], and borderline personality [ 13 ]. To the best of our knowledge, the narrative identities of people with dementia have been studied far too rarely [ 14 – 18 ].…”

The Role of the Body and Extended Memory Systems in Working With Traumatic Memories

“…When we frame our lives in a way that revolves around a traumatic experience, the accompanying feelings and stress caused by the event have affect us long after the traumatic event. In cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, stored information about the personal narrative can be very dangerous and affect the entire structure of the narrative (Vanaken et al, 2021).…”

ChatGPT Demonstrates Potential for Identifying Psychiatric Disorders: Application to Childbirth-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

“…Alternatively, the narrative style and language that individuals use when recounting traumatic events have been suggested to provide deep insights into their mental well-being [42][43][44]. Research has shown that the way in which individuals remember and describe traumatic events, encompassing the language used in the narrative, is connected to the expression of their post-traumatic stress symptoms [45].…”