TY - JOUR
T1 - It's all in the details
T2 - An investigation of the subcomponents of narrative coherence in relation to mental health
AU - Vanaken, Lauranne
AU - Vanderveren, Elien
AU - Waters, Theodore E.A.
AU - Bijttebier, Patricia
AU - Fivush, Robyn
AU - Hermans, Dirk
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Applied Cognitive Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2021/9/1
Y1 - 2021/9/1
N2 - The coherence of autobiographical narratives is suggested to be reflective of individuals' mental health. However, inconsistencies in results are regularly observed. Therefore, in this study, the Narrative Coherence Coding Scheme (NaCCS) by Reese et al. (Journal of Cognition and Development, 12, 424–462) was deconstructed and every dimension of coherence was recoded into singular constituting subcomponents. Our new fine-grained scoring scheme allowed us to investigate which particular subcomponents of coherence may be important in the relation to mental health. Data showed that both structural as well as thematic elements of coherence, with in particular the number of emotional elaborations, were important in the association with mental health. Therefore, we recommend for future research to use this specific coding scheme, including most notably the number of emotional elaborations, in order to obtain the most accurate prediction of mental health, to test the replicability of these preliminary findings and to guide targets for narrative-based interventions.
AB - The coherence of autobiographical narratives is suggested to be reflective of individuals' mental health. However, inconsistencies in results are regularly observed. Therefore, in this study, the Narrative Coherence Coding Scheme (NaCCS) by Reese et al. (Journal of Cognition and Development, 12, 424–462) was deconstructed and every dimension of coherence was recoded into singular constituting subcomponents. Our new fine-grained scoring scheme allowed us to investigate which particular subcomponents of coherence may be important in the relation to mental health. Data showed that both structural as well as thematic elements of coherence, with in particular the number of emotional elaborations, were important in the association with mental health. Therefore, we recommend for future research to use this specific coding scheme, including most notably the number of emotional elaborations, in order to obtain the most accurate prediction of mental health, to test the replicability of these preliminary findings and to guide targets for narrative-based interventions.
KW - autobiographical memory
KW - narrative coherence
KW - psychological well-being
KW - psychopathology
KW - subcomponents
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U2 - 10.1002/acp.3859
DO - 10.1002/acp.3859
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85110179408
SN - 0888-4080
VL - 35
SP - 1273
EP - 1283
JO - Applied Cognitive Psychology
JF - Applied Cognitive Psychology
IS - 5
ER -