Preschoolers’ narrative representations and childhood adaptation in an ethnoracially diverse sample

Abstract

This investigation evaluated relations between preschoolers’ representational content and coherence in the MacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB) at age four as related to child adjustment at age six. A community sample of 250 preschoolers (50% female; M_age= 49.05 months, SD = 2.9; 46% Hispanic, 18% Black, 11.2% White, 0.4% Asian, and 24.4% multiracial) completed assessments of relational representations using the MSSB at age four and of child adjustment at age six, including a measure of child-reported depressive symptomatology and observer ratings of child aggression during a Bobo doll task and inhibitory control during a delay of gratification task. Regression analyses demonstrated prospective relations between negative mother representation and less inhibitory control, negative child representation and higher aggression, and narrative coherence and more inhibitory control. Interactive analyses revealed relations between negative mother representation and difficulties in inhibitory control among White children and weaker relations among Black children. Prospective relations between narrative coherence and increased inhibitory control were less pronounced for Hispanic children. Findings indicate that preschoolers’ narratives can reveal the thematic content and structural coherence of their internalized beliefs and expectations of self and (m)other. Associations between representations and children’s adaptation have clear implications for representational processes and interventions in development.

Keywords:

• adjustment
• coherence
• MacArthur Story Stem Battery
• narratives
• ethnicity
• representation

Acknowledgments

Portions of this work were presented at the 2013 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington. The authors are grateful for the support and contributions of the research team who assisted with the collection and coding of these data. We further extend our deepest appreciation to the families who shared their time and experience with us.