Variation in narrative identity is associated with trajectories of mental health over several years.

Abstract

This paper presents two longitudinal studies designed to assess the relationship between variability in narrative identity and trajectories of mental health over several years. In Study 1, core scenes from 89 late-mid-life adults’ life stories were assessed for several narrative themes. Participants’ mental health and physical health were assessed concurrently with the narratives and once a year for the subsequent four years. Concurrent analyses indicated that the themes of agency, redemption, and contamination were significantly associated with mental (but not physical) health. Longitudinal analyses indicated that these same three themes were significantly associated with participants’ trajectories of mental health over the course of four years. Exploratory analyses indicated that narratives of challenging experiences may be central to this pattern of results. In Study 2, similar longitudinal analyses were conducted on a sample of 27 late-mid-life adults who received a major physical illness diagnosis between the baseline assessment and six months later and a matched sample of 27 control participants who remained healthy throughout the study. Participants’ mental health and physical health were assessed every six months for two years. In this tightly controlled study, the themes of agency, communion, redemption, and contamination in participants’ life narratives collected at Baseline (before any participant got sick) were significantly positively associated with mental health in the group of participants who went on to receive a medical diagnosis, but not in the control group. Taken together, the results of these two studies indicate that the way an individual constructs personal narratives may impact his or her trajectory of mental health over time.

The life story from age 26 to 32: Rank‐order stability and mean‐level change

“…Life stories and the associated capacity to “author the self” are arguably shaped substantially by environmental, family, and cultural factors (e.g., Shulman, Hakhmigari, Michaeli, Tuval‐Mashiach, & Dickson, ), as well as important role transitions (Roberts, Wood, & Smith, ), which likely lead narrative identities to be less stable than dispositional traits over time (McAdams et al, ). Nonetheless, some stability over time should be expected, as life stories are a resource by which people make meaning and create some sense of unity and purpose in their lives (Adler et al, ; McAdams, ; McAdams et al, ; McAdams & Guo, ; Singer, ).…”

Personal, Master, and Alternative Narratives: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Identity Development in Context

“…For example, Dunlop and Tracy [2013] found that recovering alcoholics whose personal narrative of their last drink was redemptive were more likely to stay sober over time than those whose story did not follow this master narrative. Adler and colleagues [Adler et al, 2015] recently found that those individuals whose life stories were more redemptive had increasingly positive mental health over time. These findings have been explained by the importance of finding personal growth in, and a positive resolution to challenging events for psychological and physical health, but they can also be explained by the power of fitting in with the culturally expected narrative structure.…”

Research Methods for Studying Narrative Identity: A Primer

“…, family processes (McLean, 2015), emotion regulation , ethnic identity development (Syed & Azmita, 2010), meaning-making (McLean & Thorne, 2003), adult attachment (Waters, Brockmeyer, & Crowell, 2013), physical and mental health (Adler et al, 2015), political orientation , and self-regulation (McAdams, Hanek, & Dadabo, 2013). Personality psychologists have made especially strong contributions to this methodological approach in work on narrative identity, the story of the self that weaves together the reconstructed past, the perceived present, and the imagined future, providing the individual with a sense of unity and meaning (e.g., McAdams, 1995;McAdams & McLean, 2013;McAdams & Pals, 2006;Singer, 2004).…”