Phenomenological variables of autobiographical memory narratives associated with healthy habits in children
Abstract
Different studies relate self-defining memories (SDM) to psychological well-being and health. This study aims to analyze the relation between the phenomenological variables (e.g., emotional intensity, vividness etc.) involved in self-defining memories associated with health (HSDMs) and healthy habits in 262 children aged between 9 and 13 years. Participants’ eating habits and physical activity events are associated with the emotionality of their HSDMs. Most of the HSDMs were declared to be experienced with their family members, and greater importance was attributed to those memories related to mothers. Significant features of retrieved HSDM can be detected from construction of autobiographical memories supporting the development of a robust healthy self in children. As such, families and schools should facilitate life experiences that lead to the formation of vivid and detailed HSDMs given that this is likely to promote health-related behaviours.
Downloads
References
American Psychiatry Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), 5ª Ed. Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana.
Amianto, F., Northoff, G., Abbate-Daga, G., Fassino, S., & Tasca, G. A. (2016). Is anorexia nervosa a disorder of the self? A psychological approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(849), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00849.
An, J. Y., Hayman, L. L., Park, Y. S., Dusaj, T. K., & Ayres, C. G. (2009). Web-based weight management programs for children and adolescentes: a systematic review of randomized controlled trial studies. Advances in nursing science, 32, 222-240.
Antwi, F., Fazylova, N., Garcon., M. C., Lopez, L., Rubiano, R., & Slyer, J. T. (2012). The effectiveness of web-based programs on the reduction of childhood obesity in school-aged children: a systematic review. JBI Library of Systematic Reviews, 10 (42Suppl), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.11124/jbisrir-2012-248
Aznar, S., & Webster, T. (2006). Actividad física y salud en la infancia y la adolescencia. Guía para todas las personas que participan en su educación. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. Madrid.
Bartrina, J. A., Val, M. V. A., Aldalur, E. M., de Victoria Muñoz, E. M., Anta, R. M. O., Rodrigo, C. P., ... Marí, J. A. T. (2016). Guías alimentarias para la población española (SENC, diciembre 2016): la nueva pirámide de la alimentación saludable. [Food guides for the Spanish population (SCNS, December 2016): the new pyramid of healthy eating] Nutrición hospitalaria: Organo oficial de la Sociedad española de nutrición parenteral y enteral, 33, 1-48.
Bauer, J. J., McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. (2008). Narrative identity and eudaimonic well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 81-104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9021-6
Blagov, P. S., & Singer, J. A. (2004). Four Dimensions of Self-Defining Memories (Specificity, Meaning, Content, and Affect) and Their Relationships to Self- Restraint, Distress, and Repressive Defensiveness. Journal of Personality, 72, 481-511.
Boyano, J. T. & Mora, J. A. (2015). Estado de ánimo y memoria autobiográfica: efectos sobre la intensidad de los recuerdos escolares. Anales de Psicología, 31, 1035-1043. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.32.1.155201
Buceta, J. M., Guitérrez, F., Castejón, F. J., & Bueno, A. M (1996). Tratamiento psicológico del comportamiento sedentario. En Buceta, J. M. & Bueno, A. M. (Ed.) Tratamiento psicológico de hábitos y enfermedades. Madrid, Pirámide.
Fivush, R. (2001). Owning experience: developing subjective perspective in autobiographical narratives. In C. Moore & K. Lemon (Eds.), The self in time: developmental perspectives, (pp. 35-52). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Freeman, M. (2007). Narrative and relation: The place of the other in the story of the self. In Josselson, R., Lieblich, A., McAdams, D. P. (Eds.), The meaning of others: Narrative studies of relationships, (pp. 11-19). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Assocciation. https://doi.org/10.1037/11580-001
Gallota, M. C., Iazzoni, S., Emerenzini, G. P., Mericci, M., Migliaccio, S., Glidetti, L, & Baldari, C. (2016). Effects of combined physical education and nutritional programs on schoolchildren´s healthy habits. PeerJ, 4, 1880. Doi: 10.7717/peerj.1880
García, A., & Muñoz, J. (2007). Alimentación saludable. Guía para las familias. Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia.
Gumz, A., Weigel, A., Daubmann, A., Wegscheider, K., Romer, G., & Löwe, B. (2017). Efficacy of a prevention program for eating disorders in schools: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 17, 293. https://doi.org/10.1186/s1288-017-1454-4
Habermas, T., & de Silveira, C. (2008). The development of global coherence in life narratives across adolescence: temporal, causal, and thematic aspects. Developmental Psychology, 44, 707-721. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44
Hernán, M., Ramos, M., & Fernández, A. (2001). Revisión de los trabajos publicados sobre promoción de la salud en jóvenes españoles. Revista Española de Salud Pública, 75, 491-504.
Huéscar, E., Rodríguez-Marín, J., Cervelló, E., & Moreno-Murcia, J. A. (2014). Teoría de la Acción Planeada y tasa de ejercicio percibida: un modelo predictivo en estudiantes adolescentes de educación física. Anales de Psicología, 30, 738-744. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.30.2.1623331
Jendrzyca, A., & Warschburger, P. (2016). Weight stigma and eating behaviours in elementary school children: A prospective population-based study. Appetite, 102, 51-59. https://doi.org/10.2016/j.appet.2016.02.005
Kingsford, J. M., Hawes, D. J., & Rosnay, M. (2018). The moral self and moral identity: Developmental questions and conceptual challenges. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 36, 652-666. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12260
Kitzmann, K. M., Dalton, W. T., Stanley, C. M., Beech, B. M., Reeves, T. P., Buscemi, … Midgett, E. L. (2010). Lifestyle interventions for youth who are overweight: a meta-analytic review. Health Psychology, 29, 91-101.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017437
Lardi, Cl., D´Argemabeaur, A., Chanal, J., Ghisletta, P., & Van der Linden., M. (2010). Further characterisation of self-defining memories in young adults: A study of a Swiss sample. Memory, 18, 293-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211003601522
Maunder, R., & Monks, C. P. (2019). Friendships in middle childhood: Links to peer and school identification, and general self-worth. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 37, 211-229. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12268
McAdams, D. P. (2001).The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5, 100-122. https://doi.org/10.1037//1089-2680.5.2.100
McAdamas, D. P., & Manczak, E. (2015). Personality and the life story. In Mikulincer, M., Shaver, P. R., Cooper, M. L., & Larsen, R. J. (Eds.), APA handbook of personality and social psychology, Volume 4: Personality processes and individual differences, (pp. 425-226). Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14343-019
McLean, K. C., Breen, A. V., & Fournier, M. A. (2010). Constructing the self in early, middle, and late adolescent boys: narrative identity, individuation, and well-being. Journal of research on adolescence, 20, 166-187. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00633.x
McLean, K. C. & Thorne, A. (2003). Late Adolescents ́Self-Defining Memories About Relationships. Developmental Psychology, 39, 635-645. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.39.4.635
Moffitt, K. H., & Singer, J. A. (1994). Continuity in the life story: self-defining memories, affect and approach/avoidance personal strivings. Journal of Personality, 62, 21-43.
Nicholls, D. E., Lynn, R., & Viner, R. M. (2011). Childhood eating disorders: British national surveillance study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 198, 295-301. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.110.081356
Pasupathi, M., & Mansour, E. (2006). Adult age differences in autobiographical reasoning in narratives. Developmental Psychology, 42, 798-808. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.5.798
Pasupathi, M., & Wainryb, C. (2010). On telling the whole story: facts and interpretations in autobiographical memory narratives from childhood through midadolescence. Developmental Psychology, 46, 735-746.
Piran, N. (2005). Prevention of eating disorders: a review of outcome evaluation research. The Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 42, 172-17.
Rohde, P., Stice, E., & Marti, N. (2015). Development and predictive effectos of eating disorder risk factors during adolescence: implications for prevention efforts. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48, 187-198. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22270
Sansom-Daly, U. M., Bryant, R. A., Cohn, R. J., & Wakefield, C. E. (2016). Rumination and self-defining memories in the context of health concerns. Memory, 24, 939-948. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2015.1059860
Singer, J. A. (2004). Narrative Identity and meaning making across the adult lifespan: an introduction. Journal of Personality, 72, 437-460.
Singer, J. A. (2005). Memories that Matter: How to Use Self-Defining Memories to Understand and Change Your Life. New Harbinger Publications, Canada.
Singer, J. A., & Blagov, P. (2000 - 2001). Classification system and scoring manual for self-defining autobiographical memories. Unpublished manuscript, Connecticut College.
Singer, J. A., Blagov, P., Berry, M., & Oost, K. M. (2013). Self-defining memories, scripts, and the life story: narrative identity in personality and psychotherapy. Journal of Personality, 81, 569-582. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12005
Singer, J. A., & Salovey, P. (1993). The remembered self. Emotion and memory in personality. USA: The Free Press.
Spanish National Statistics Institute and the Ministry for Health, Social Services and Equality. (2013). National Health Survey of Spain. Questionnaire of minors.
Spanish Agency for Food Security and Nutrition (2010). The feeding of your children. Healthy nutrition from childhood to adolescence. Madrid, Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality.
Vander Wall, J. S. (2011). Unhealthy weight control behaviors among adolescents. Journal of Health Psychology, 17, 110-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105311409787
Wells, A., & Hackmann, A. (1993). Imagery and core beliefs in health anxiety: Content and origins. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 21(3), 265-273.
World Health Organization (2014). World Health Statistics 2014. http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood_schools/en/
Copyright (c) 2022 Servicio de Publicaciones, University of Murcia (Spain)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The works published in this journal are subject to the following terms:
1. The Publications Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) retains the property rights (copyright) of published works, and encourages and enables the reuse of the same under the license specified in paragraph 2.
© Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia, 2022
2. The works are published in the online edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-CompartirIgual 4.0 (legal text). You can copy, use, distribute, transmit and publicly display, provided that: i) you cite the author and the original source of publication (journal, editorial and URL of the work), ii) are not used for commercial purposes, iii ) mentions the existence and specifications of this license.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
3. Conditions of self-archiving. Is allowed and encouraged the authors to disseminate electronically pre-print versions (version before being evaluated and sent to the journal) and / or post-print (version reviewed and accepted for publication) of their works before publication, as it encourages its earliest circulation and diffusion and thus a possible increase in its citation and scope between the academic community. RoMEO Color: Green.
