Can autobiographical memory coherence buffer the impact of negative life experiences? A prospective study

Vanderveren, Elien; Bijttebier, Patricia; Hermans, Dirk

doi:10.1016/j.jbct.2020.05.001

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Results did not confirm our prediction, as coherence could not predict the increase in anxiety levels from before to the peak of the traumatic event. Although contrary to our predictions and some literature (Mason et al, 2019 ; Vanderveren et al, 2020a ), there is another line of literature that indeed suggests that prior psychological adjustment is one of the smaller predictors of PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure (Ozer et al, 2003 ). Future research could further investigate possible buffering effects, since they could be a major point for primary prevention, thereby protecting people before harmful events take place.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In a study of Mason et al ( 2019 ), the ability of mothers to form an integrated narrative of their parenting experiences could forecast their psychological and biological trauma resilience, in terms of lower parenting stress and less telomere shortening. Similarly, in a recent study of Vanderveren et al ( 2020a ), baseline narrative coherence could predict future coping with the stressful experience of failing on exams. Students with a higher baseline narrative coherence reported less subjective distress and less impact of the failing on exams, in comparison with students with low baseline narrative coherence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…As briefly touched upon earlier, the reason why narratives are investigated in terms of their narrative structure is because coherence seems to reflect the individual's abilities to cope with the event and hence can indicate trauma resilience (Horowitz, 1976 ; Fivush and Baker-Ward, 2005 ; Southwick et al, 2014 ; Vanderveren et al, 2020a ). For instance, in terror-attack survivors (Tuval-Mashiach et al, 2004 ) and individuals who recently got divorced (Kellas and Manusov, 2003 ), narrative coherence was associated to better mental health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, coherence is not only investigated as a phenomenological characteristic of trauma narratives that reflects adjustment after trauma exposure. It has also been examined as an individual difference variable of non-traumatic autobiographical memories, as a buffering factor against traumatic experiences before they even take place (Vanaken et al, 2020 ; Vanderveren et al, 2020a ). Interestingly, in preschool children, higher coherence in story-stem narratives buffered against the impact of maternal stress to prevent development of internalizing symptoms (Stadelmann et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

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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.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

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“…Another factor is certainly the extreme stress and the extreme change in life that refugees experience. Even though prior research evidences that autobiographical meaning making relates to a higher sense of self-continuity and well-being when coping with negative life events (Banks and Salmon, 2013;Habermas and Köber, 2015a;Merrill et al, 2016;Huang et al, in press;Vanderveren et al, 2020), in none of these studies individuals experienced a change in their physical and sociocultural environment as fundamental as most refugees have. While all biographical disruptions and specific traumatic events are challenging for the sense of self and psychological well-being, it is rare that the relative stability of one's physical environment, social relations, and routine activities are threatened simultaneously.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Autobiographical Meaning Making Protects the Sense of Self-Continuity Past Forced Migration

Camia

Zafar

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Forced migration changes people’s lives and their sense of self-continuity fundamentally. One memory-based mechanism to protect the sense of self-continuity and psychological well-being is autobiographical meaning making, enabling individuals to explain change in personality and life by connecting personal experiences and other distant parts of life to the self and its development. Aiming to replicate and extend prior research, the current study investigated whether autobiographical meaning making has the potential to support the sense of self-continuity in refugees. We therefore collected life narratives from 31 refugees that were coded for autobiographical reasoning, self-event connections, and global narrative coherence. In line with prior research, results suggest that autobiographical meaning making relates to a higher sense of self-continuity and less psychological distress. Yet, if refugees experienced many continuing postdisplacement stressors in addition to their forced displacement, autobiographical meaning making was associated with higher self-discontinuity and greater psychological distress, especially with trauma-related symptoms such as memory intrusion and hyperarousal. Altogether, results indicate that autobiographical meaning making helps to compensate the effects of extreme biographical disruptions on the sense of self-continuity, as long as the stress caused by the biographical change is not overwhelming or too protracted.

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Psychological Disorders and Autobiographical Memories: Examining Memory Specificity, Affective Content, and Meaning-Making

McKay,

Storm,

Castagna

et al. 2024

Phenomenological Neuropsychiatry

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Can autobiographical memory coherence buffer the impact of negative life experiences? A prospective study

Cited by 11 publications

References 50 publications

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

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

Autobiographical Meaning Making Protects the Sense of Self-Continuity Past Forced Migration

Psychological Disorders and Autobiographical Memories: Examining Memory Specificity, Affective Content, and Meaning-Making

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