Personal narratives about states of suffering and wellbeing: Children's conceptualization in terms of physical and psychological domain

Abstract

The aim was to investigate how children conceptualize personal events of positive and negative valences pertaining to the physical and psychological domains. Five- to 9-year-olds narrated events referring to suffering states (Study 1, n¼112) and to suffering and wellbeing states (Study 2, n¼118). Analysis of the narratives revealed differences between the two states, with higher focus on events pertaining to a physical domain for suffering and to psychological domain for wellbeing; however, older children were more oriented toward psychological than physical events for both valences. Children showed higher tendency to produce causes compared to consequences, with\ud younger children finding it difficult to introduce physical causes. Psychological suffering narratives revealed a richer sychological lexicon and more instances of domain coexistence. Asymmetry in the representation of different state valences and domains indicates multifaceted and developing conceptualization. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Achievement emotions in elementary, middle, and high school: How do students feel about specific contexts in terms of settings and subject‐domains?

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How do children make sense of their experiences? Children’s memories of wellbeing and distress from an attachment perspective

“…Over time, most children become able to grasp the different aspects of wellbeing and distress (Gobbo & Raccanello, 2010) to a certain extent, but secure children may acquire an earlier (and more sophisticated) understanding of these inner states.…”

Children’s Psychological Representation of Earthquakes: Analysis of Written Definitions and Rasch Scaling

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