Illness and narrative identity: examining past and future life story chapters in individuals with bipolar disorder, diabetes mellitus or no chronic illness.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether narrative identity challenges are specific to Bipolar Disorder (BD) as a mental illness or a reflection of living with chronic illness. Nineteen individuals diagnosed with BD, 29 individuals diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) and 25 controls without chronic mental or somatic illness identified past and future life story chapters which were self-rated on emotional tone and self-event connections and content-coded for agency and communion themes. Individuals with BD self-rated their past chapters as more negative and less positive, and their chapters were lower on content-coded agency and communion themes compared to T1DM and controls.

"My life disappeared in illness": bipolar disorder and themes in narrative identity.

Bipolar Disorder (BD) has substantial consequences for the course of life and the formation of self and identity. In the present study, we extended the existing literature by examining narrative identity. Fifteen female outpatients with remitted BD and fifteen non-clinical control participants described past and future chapters in their life stories.

When does a wedding mark the beginning of a new chapter in one's life?

Life story chapters may be formed in relation to substantial and enduring changes in material circumstances, and we explored this idea by capitalizing on naturally occurring variations in the change of material circumstances associated with marriage. In two studies, we asked participants to report whether they cohabitated before marriage and whether they relocated in connection with marriage, using these as proxies for material change. Participants described their wedding and rated it on memory characteristics along with scales measuring material change, psychological change, and centrality to identity.

Storying the Past and the Future: Agency and Communion Themes Among Individuals With Schizophrenia and Depression.

Research has linked disturbances in narrative identity with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. One such disturbance is diminished agency and communion themes in past life stories. However, projecting oneself into the future is also central to identity and potentially impacts recovery.

Narrative Identity, Metacognition, and Well-Being in Patients With Schizophrenia or HIV.

It has been proposed that schizophrenia reflects disturbances in personal identity, which include sense of personal agency, sense of belonging within a social group, and metacognition. Less is known about how these different processes are related to one another and to well-being outcomes. To study this, we measured themes of agency and communion in narrative identity in 29 individuals with schizophrenia and 29 individuals with HIV.

Narrative Identity in Psychopathology: A Negative Past and a Bright but Foreshortened Future.

We examined narrative identity as a possible transdiagnostic marker of psychopathology by interviewing individuals with schizophrenia, individuals with depression and a nonclinical control group about past and future chapters in their life stories. Participants were 20 patients with schizophrenia, 20 patients with depression, and 20 nonclinical control participants matched on age, gender, and education. Participants described up to 10 chapters in their past and future life stories and self-rated chapters on emotional tone and self-event connections.

How do loss- and restoration-oriented coping change across time? A prospective study on adjustment following spousal bereavement.

Background And Objectives: According to the Dual Process Model (DPM), shifting between loss-oriented (LO) and restoration-oriented (RO) coping is essential for adjustment following bereavement. Knowledge about how LO and RO coping change over time and how such changes are related to adjustment is missing. With a prospective design this study investigated (1) relations between levels of LO/RO coping and selected outcomes and (2) changes in LO/RO coping across time and their relations to adjustment.

Personal and parents' life stories in patients with borderline personality disorder.

Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) display disturbances in understanding self and others. We examined whether these disturbances extended to how patients described their personal and parents' life stories and to measures of identity, alexithymia, empathy, and emotional intelligence. Thirty BPD patients and 30 matched control participants described personal and parents' life stories and completed measures of identity disturbance, alexithymia, empathy, and emotional intelligence.

Writing about life story chapters increases self-esteem: Three experimental studies.

Objective: The purpose of the present three studies was to examine experimentally whether writing about life story chapters would increase self-esteem, self-concept clarity, and meaning.

Method: In study 1, 179 participants rated state self-esteem and self-concept clarity before and after they described either four important life story chapters or four famous Americans. In study 2, 141 new participants completed a similar procedure to study 1 and then returned two days later to complete the procedure a second time.

Themes of unfulfilled agency and communion in life stories of patients with schizophrenia.

We examined themes of agency and communion in life stories of individuals with schizophrenia. Twenty-four individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 24 control participants matched on age, gender, and education described their life stories in a free format. The life stories were coded for the presence of agency and communion themes and whether or not the themes captured fulfillment of agency and communion needs.

Patients with borderline personality disorder show increased agency in life stories after 12 months of psychotherapy.

Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) display disturbances in self and other understanding, which is also evident when they narrate events from their own and significant others' lives. In a recent study, we found that patients described both their own and their parents' life stories as more negative and with fewer themes of agency and communion fulfillment. Hence, we examined whether 12 months of psychotherapy would change how patients described their own and their parents' life stories.

My partner's stories: relationships between personal and vicarious life stories within romantic couples.

In this paper, we examined relationships and differences between personal and vicarious life stories, i.e., the life stories one knows of others.

What happened in kindergarten? Mother-child conversations about life story chapters.

Research indicates that adults form life story chapters, representations of extended time periods that include people, places and activities. Life chapter memories are distinct from episodic memories and have implications for behaviour, self and mental health, yet little is known about their development during childhood. Two exploratory studies examined parent-child conversations about life chapters.

Functions of personal and vicarious life stories: identity and empathy.

The present study investigates functions of personal and vicarious life stories focusing on identity and empathy. Two-hundred-and-forty Danish high school students completed two life story questionnaires: one for their personal life story and one for a close other's life story. In both questionnaires, they identified up to 10 chapters and self-rated the chapters on valence and valence of causal connections.

Narrative identity in female patients with remitted bipolar disorder: a negative past and a foreshortened future.

The present study examined narrative identity and subjective well-being in outpatients with remitted bipolar disorder (BD) and a healthy control group. Fifteen female outpatients with remitted BD and 15 healthy control participants identified past and future chapters in their life stories, gave their age for the beginning and end of each chapter, rated emotional tone as well as positive and negative self-event connections associated with the chapters, and for future chapters rated the probability of the chapter. The BD patients reported less positive emotional tone and self-event connections for past chapters, but not for future chapters.

A decline in self-defining memories following a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Purpose: Receiving a diagnosis of schizophrenia can be a profound life transition that often has a negative influence on the patient's sense of self. The present study is the first to examine how self-defining memories are temporally distributed around age at diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Method: 25 patients and 25 matched control participants identified 3 self-defining memories from their lives.

Life story chapters and narrative self-continuity in patients with schizophrenia.

The present study compared life story chapters and self-defining memories in 25 patients with schizophrenia and 25 matched controls. All participants were tested on neurocognition and rated on symptoms. Participants identified and rated life story chapters and self-defining memories on emotional valence, causal coherence, and self-continuity.

I Know My Story and I Know Your Story: Developing a Conceptual Framework for Vicarious Life Stories.

Vicarious life stories are mental representations of other people's life stories. We propose a conceptual framework that situates the study of vicarious life stories at the crossroads between personality and social cognition, identifies their potential functions, and describes possible connections between vicarious and personal life stories. Two preliminary studies compared chapters and specific memories in personal and close others' life stories in two groups of student participants.

Vicarious memories.

People not only have vivid memories of their own personal experiences, but also vicarious memories of events that happened to other people. To compare the phenomenological and functional qualities of personal and vicarious memories, college students described a specific past event that they had recounted to a parent or friend, and also an event that a friend or parent had recounted to them. Although ratings of memory vividness, emotional intensity, visualization, and physical reactions were higher for personal than for vicarious memories, the overall pattern of ratings was similar.

A 3.5 year diary study: Remembering and life story importance are predicted by different event characteristics.

Forty-five participants described and rated two events each week during their first term at university. After 3.5 years, we examined whether event characteristics rated in the diary predicted remembering, reliving, and life story importance at the follow-up.

The reminiscence bump in older adults' life story transitions.

Older adults' memories of events that occurred in adolescence and early adulthood are over-represented compared to other lifetime periods. Prior research on this reminiscence bump has focused on qualities of individual memories. The present study used a novel interview method to examine the potential role played by mental representations of extended lifetime periods.

The emotional content of life stories: positivity bias and relation to personality.

We examined whether past and future negative life story events, compared to past and future positive events, were less likely to be related to life story chapters and situated at a greater temporal distance from the present. We also examined relations between life stories and personality traits. Three hundred ten students and 160 middle-aged adults completed a measure of personality traits and identified chapters as well as past and future events in their life story.

What characterizes life story memories? A diary study of freshmen's first term.

We investigated whether memories are selected for the life story based on event characteristics. Sixty-one students completed weekly diaries over their first term at university. They described, dated and rated two events each week.

Rumination is associated with the phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories and future scenarios.

In the present studies it was investigated whether rumination was associated with the phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories and future scenarios. In three studies student participants completed questionnaires on rumination and recalled and rated a positive and a negative memory. In Studies 2 and 3 participants also generated and rated a positive and a negative future scenario.

Life story chapters, specific memories and the reminiscence bump.

Theories of autobiographical memory posit that extended time periods (here termed chapters) and memories are organised hierarchically. If chapters organise memories and guide their recall, then chapters and memories should show similar temporal distributions over the life course. Previous research demonstrates that positive but not negative memories show a reminiscence bump and that memories cluster at the beginning of extended time periods.