Social and Emotional Functions of Mother–Child Reminiscing About Stressful Events

Abstract

Recent research indicates that the inclusion of emotional and casual/explanatory language in adults' narratives of stressful experiences is related to psychological well–being, but research with children is mixed. Based on research demonstrating the role of parental scaffolding on the content of children's developing autobiographical memories, we examined 27 mostly White mixed SES mother–child dyads discussing one chronic experience and one acutely stressful experience related to the child's asthma. Analyses of the content of these discussions suggested that the contribution of a mother to the discussion of each experience was highly related to the contribution of her child. However, these analyses also showed that the content of conversations about the acute experience differed from the content of conversations about the chronic experience. Most importantly, mothers who used more emotional and causal explanatory language when discussing the chronic stressor had children who showed better emotional well–being on the Child Behavior Checklist. Implications for the role of parent–guided narratives about stressful events for children's coping and well–being are discussed.