Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-shngb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-10T14:27:28.713Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Origins of mother–child reminiscing style

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2018

Elaine Reese Open the ORCID record for Elaine Reese [Opens in a new window] ,
Elizabeth Meins ,
Charles Fernyhough  and
Luna Centifanti
Elaine Reese*
Affiliation:
University of Otago
Elizabeth Meins
Affiliation:
York University
Charles Fernyhough
Affiliation:
Durham University
Luna Centifanti
Affiliation:
Liverpool University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Elaine Reese, University of Otago, Department of Psychology, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand 9054; E-mail: ereese@psy.otago.ac.nz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Maternal elaborative reminiscing supports preschool children's autobiographical memory, self-concept, and emotion understanding. What are the factors contributing to mothers' elaborative style of reminiscing? In a longitudinal community sample (n = 170 at the final data point), this study explored the role of maternal depression (8–44 months), maternal sensitivity and maternal mind-mindedness (8 months), as well as child factors of joint attention (15 months), attachment security (15 months), and language (26 months) for mother–child reminiscing about a positive (happy) and a negative (scared) event at 44 months. Mothers could be classed into two groups of low versus increasing depression from 8 to 44 months, yet maternal depression did not uniquely predict mother–child reminiscing after accounting for maternal sensitivity and other factors. Instead, maternal sensitivity, children's joint attention, and language uniquely predicted children's elaborations about the scared event at 44 months, and maternal sensitivity uniquely predicted mothers' elaborations about the scared event at 44 months. Mothers who are more sensitive in early interactions may later be better at engaging their children when reminiscing about negative emotions. These findings have implications for the design of interventions targeted at supporting mothers to engage in elaborative reminiscing with their preschool children.

Information

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 631 - 642
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

This research was supported by Grants R000239456, RES-000-23-1073, and ES/K010719/1 from the Economic and Social Research Council to (E.M.). We thank Lorna Elliott, Alexandra Hearn, Beth Liddle, Kathryn Parkinson, Julia Candy, Karin Fothergill, Sarah-Jane Robertson, and Jessica Riordan for their valuable contributions to data collection and coding, and the families for their generous participation.

References

Ainsworth, M. S., Bell, S. M., & Stayton, D. J. (1974). Infant–mother attachment and social development: “Socialization” as a product of reciprocal responsiveness to signals. In Richards, M. P. M. (Ed.), The integration of a child into a social world (pp. 99–135). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M. S., Blehar, E., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Arnott, B., & Meins, E. (2008). Continuity in mind-mindedness from pregnancy to the first year of life. Infant Behavior and Development, 31, 647–654. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2008.07.001Google Scholar
Bauer, D. J., & Curran, P. J. (2004). The integration of continuous and discrete latent variable models: Potential problems and promising opportunities. Psychological Methods, 9, 3–29. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.9.1.3.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004.Google Scholar
Bird, A., Reese, E., & Tripp, G. (2006). Parent–child talk about past emotional events: Associations with child temperament and goodness-of-fit. Journal of Cognition and Development, 7, 189–210. doi:10.1207/s15327647jcd0702_3.Google Scholar
Boucher, J., & Lewis, V. (1997). Pre-school Language Scales-3 (UK). London: Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bretherton, I., & Munholland, K. A. (1999). Internal working models in attachment relationships: A construct revisited. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 89–111). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Centifanti, L., Meins, E., & Fernyhough, C. (2016). Callous-unemotional traits and impulsivity: Distinct longitudinal relations with mind-mindedness and understanding of others. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57, 84–92. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12445Google Scholar
Cleveland, E. S., & Reese, E. (2005). Maternal structure and autonomy support in conversations about the past: Contributions to children's autobiographical memory. Developmental Psychology, 41, 376–388. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2006.09.003.Google Scholar
Farrant, K., & Reese, E. (2000). Maternal style and children's participation in reminiscing: Stepping stones in children's autobiographical memory development. Journal of Cognition and Development, 1, 193–225. doi:10.1207/S15327647JCD010203.Google Scholar
Fivush, R. (1989). Exploring sex differences in the emotional content of mother-child conversations about the past. Sex Roles, 20, 675–691.10.1007/BF00288079Google Scholar
Fivush, R., Brotman, M. A., Buckner, J. P., & Goodman, S. H. (2000). Gender differences in parent–child emotion narratives. Sex Roles, 42, 233–253.Google Scholar
Fivush, R., Haden, C. A., & Reese, E. (2006). Elaborating on elaborations: Role of maternal reminiscing style in cognitive and socioemotional development. Child Development, 77, 1568–1588. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00960.x.Google Scholar
Fivush, R., & Nelson, K. (2006). Parent–child reminiscing locates the self in the past. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 235–251. doi: 10.1348/026151005X57747.Google Scholar
Fivush, R., & Vasudeva, A. (2002). Remembering to relate: Socioemotional correlates of mother-child reminiscing. Journal of Cognition and Development, 3, 73–90. doi:10.1207/S15327647JCD0301_5.Google Scholar
Haden, C. A. (1998). Reminiscing with different children: Relating maternal stylistic consistency and sibling similarity in talk about the past. Developmental Psychology, 34, 99–114.Google Scholar
Haden, C. A., & Fivush, R. (1996). Contextual variation in maternal conversational styles. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 24, 200–227.Google Scholar
Haden, C. A., Ornstein, P. A., Rudek, D. J., & Cameron, D. (2009). Reminiscing in the early years: Patterns of maternal elaborativeness and children's remembering. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33, 118–130. doi:10.1177/0165025408098038.Google Scholar
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four-Factor Index of Social Status. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University.Google Scholar
Hudson, J. A. (2002). “Do you know what we're going to do this summer?”: Mothers' talk to preschool children about future events. Journal of Cognition and Development, 3, 49–71. doi:10.1207/S15327647JCD0301_4.Google Scholar
Jack, F., MacDonald, S., Reese, E., & Hayne, H. (2009). Maternal reminiscing style during early childhood predicts the age of adolescents’ earliest memories. Child Development, 80, 496–505. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01274.x.Google Scholar
Laible, D. (2004). Mother-child discourse in two contexts: Links with child temperament, attachment security, and socioemotional competence. Developmental Psychology, 40, 979–992. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.6.979.Google Scholar
Laible, D. (2011). Does it matter if preschool children and mothers discuss positive vs. negative events during reminiscing? Links with mother-reported attachment, family emotional climate, and socioemotional development. Social Development, 20, 394–411. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2010.00584.x.Google Scholar
Laible, D., Panfile Murphy, T., & Augustine, M. (2013). Constructing emotional and relational understanding: The role of mother–child reminiscing about negatively valenced events. Social Development, 22, 300–318. doi:10.1111/sode.12022.Google Scholar
Langley, H. A., Coffman, J. L., & Ornstein, P. A. (2017). The socialization of children's memory: Linking maternal conversational style to the development of children's autobiographical and deliberate memory skills. Journal of Cognition and Development, 18, 63–86. doi:10.1080/15248372.2015.1135800.Google Scholar
Lewis, K. D. (1999). Maternal style in reminiscing: Relations to child individual differences. Cognitive Development, 14, 381–399. doi:10.1016/S0885-2014(99)00011-8.Google Scholar
Leyva, D., Sparks, A., & Reese, E. (2012). The link between preschoolers' phonological awareness and mothers' book–reading and reminiscing practices in low–income families. Journal of Literacy Research, 44, 426–447. doi:10.1177/1086296X12460040Google Scholar
Lo, Y., Mendell, N. R., & Rubin, D. B. (2001). Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika, 88, 767–778.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, M. C., Graczyk, P. A., O'Hare, E., & Neuman, G. (2000). Maternal depression and parenting behavior: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 561–592. doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(98)00100-7.Google Scholar
McGuigan, F., & Salmon, K. (2004). The time to talk: The influence of the timing of adult–child talk on children's event memory. Child Development, 75, 669–686. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00700.x.Google Scholar
McGuigan, F., & Salmon, K. (2006). The influence of talking on showing and telling: Adult-child talk and children's verbal and nonverbal event recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 365–381. doi:10.1002/acp.1183Google Scholar
McMahon, C., Camberis, A. L., Berry, S., & Gibson, F. (2016). Maternal mind-mindedness: Relations with maternal-fetal attachment and stability in the first two years of life: Findings from an Australian prospective study. Infant Mental Health Journal, 37, 17–28. doi:10.1002/imhj.21548.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1986). Discovery of an insecure-disorganized/disoriented attachment pattern. In Brazelton, B. T. & Yogman, M. W. (Eds.), Affective development in infancy (pp. 95–124). Westport, CT: Ablex.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (Vol. 1, pp. 121–160). Chicago, University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Meins, E. (1997). Security of attachment and maternal tutoring strategies: Interaction within the zone of proximal development. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15, 129–144. doi:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1997.tb00730.x.Google Scholar
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., Arnott, B., Leekam, S. R., & Rosnay, M. (2013). Mind-mindedness and theory of mind: Mediating roles of language and perspectival symbolic play. Child Development, 84, 1777–1790. doi:10.1111/cdev.12061.Google Scholar
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., Arnott, B., Turner, M., & Leekam, S. R. (2011). Mother- versus infant-centered correlates of maternal mind-mindedness in the first year of life. Infancy, 16, 137–165. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2010.00039.x.Google Scholar
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., Arnott, B., Vittorini, L., Turner, M., Leekam, S. R., & Parkinson, K. (2011). Individual differences in infants’ joint attention behaviors with mother and a new social partner. Infancy, 16, 587–610. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2010.00065.x.Google Scholar
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., de Rosnay, M., Arnott, B., Leekam, S. R., & Turner, M. (2012). Mind-mindedness as a multidimensional construct: Appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments independently predict infant–mother attachment in a socially diverse sample. Infancy, 17, 393–415. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00087.x.Google Scholar
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., Fradley, E., & Tuckey, M. (2001). Rethinking maternal sensitivity: Mothers’ comments on infants’ mental processes predict security of attachment at 12 months. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 637–648. doi:10.1017/S0021963001007302.Google Scholar
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., Wainwright, R., Clark-Carter, D., Das Gupta, M., Fradley, E., & Tuckey, M. (2003). Pathways to understanding mind: Construct validity and predictive validity of maternal mind-mindedness. Child Development, 74, 1194–1211. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00601.Google Scholar
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., Wainwright, R., Das Gupta, M., Fradley, E., & Tuckey, M. (2002). Maternal mind–mindedness and attachment security as predictors of theory of mind understanding. Child Development, 73, 1715–1726. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00501.Google Scholar
Miller, P. J., Potts, R., Fung, H., Hoogstra, L., & Mintz, J. (1990). Narrative practices and the social construction of self in childhood. American Ethnologist, 17, 292–311. doi:10.1525/ae.1990.17.2.02a00060.Google Scholar
Mullen, M. K., & Yi, S. (1995). The cultural context of talk about the past: Implications for the development of autobiographical memory. Cognitive Development, 10, 407–419. doi:10.1016/0885-2014(95)90004-7.Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2013). Mplus 7.11. Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
Nagin, D. S. (1999). Analyzing developmental trajectories: A semiparametric, group-based approach. Psychological Methods, 4, 139–157.Google Scholar
Nagin, D. (2005). Group-based modeling of development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Nagin, D., & Tremblay, R. E. (1999). Trajectories of boys' physical aggression, opposition, and hyperactivity on the path to physically violent and nonviolent juvenile delinquency. Child Development, 70, 1181–1196. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00086Google Scholar
Newcombe, R., & Reese, E. (2004). Evaluations and orientations in mother–child narratives as a function of attachment security: A longitudinal investigation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 230–245. doi:10.1080/01650250344000460.Google Scholar
Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 535–569. doi:10.1080/10705510701575396.Google Scholar
Peterson, C., Jesso, B., & McCabe, A. (1999). Encouraging narratives in preschoolers: An intervention study. Journal of Child Language, 26, 49–67.10.1017/S0305000998003651Google Scholar
Raikes, H. A., & Thompson, R. A. (2006). Family emotional climate, attachment security and young children's emotion knowledge in a high-risk sample. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 89–104. doi:10.1348/026151005X70427.Google Scholar
Reese, E. (1999). What children say when they talk about the past. Narrative Inquiry, 9, 215–241. doi:10.1075/ni.9.2.02ree.Google Scholar
Reese, E. (2013). Tell me a story: Sharing stories to enrich your child's world. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Reese, E., & Brown, N. (2000). Reminiscing and recounting in the preschool years. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14, 1–17. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(200001)14:1 < 1::AID-ACP625 > 3.0.CO;2-G.+3.0.CO;2-G.>Google Scholar
Reese, E., & Cleveland, E. S. (2006). Mother-child reminiscing and children's understanding of mind. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 52, 17–43. doi:10.1353/mpq.2006.0007.Google Scholar
Reese, E., & Fivush, R. (1993). Parental styles of talking about the past. Developmental Psychology, 29, 596.Google Scholar
Reese, E., Haden, C. A., & Fivush, R. (1993). Mother-child conversations about the past: Relationships of style and memory over time. Cognitive Development, 8, 403–430. doi:10.1016/S0885-2014(05)80002-4.Google Scholar
Reese, E., Hayne, H., & MacDonald, S. (2008). Looking back to the future: Māori and Pakeha mother–child birth stories. Child Development, 79, 114–125. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01114.x.Google Scholar
Reese, E., Leyva, D., Sparks, A., & Grolnick, W. (2010). Maternal elaborative reminiscing increases low-income children's narrative skills relative to dialogic reading. Early Education and Development, 21, 318–342. doi:10.1080/10409289.2010.481552.Google Scholar
Reese, E., & Neha, T. (2015). Let's kōrero (talk): The practice and functions of reminiscing among mothers and children in Māori families. Memory, 23, 99–110. doi:10.1080/09658211.2014.929705.Google Scholar
Reese, E., & Newcombe, R. (2007). Training mothers in elaborative reminiscing enhances children's autobiographical memory and narrative. Child Development, 78, 1153–1170. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01058.x.Google Scholar
Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., Hershey, K. L., & Fisher, P. (2001). Investigations of temperament at three to seven years: The Children's Behavior Questionnaire. Child Development, 72, 1394–1408. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00355.Google Scholar
Sachs, J. (1983). Talking about the there and then: The emergence of displaced reference in parent-child discourse. Children's Language, 4, 1–28.Google Scholar
Salmon, K., & Reese, E. (2016). The benefits of reminiscing with young children. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25, 233–238. doi:10.1177/0963721416655100.Google Scholar
Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177. doi:10.1037//1082-989.Google Scholar
Schröder, L., Keller, H., Kärtner, J., Kleis, A., Abels, M., Yovsi, R. D., … Papaligoura, Z. (2013). Early reminiscing in cultural contexts: Cultural models, maternal reminiscing styles, and children's memories. Journal of Cognition and Development, 14, 10–34. doi:10.1080/15248372.2011.638690.Google Scholar
Suveg, C., Zeman, J., Flannery-Schroeder, E., & Cassano, M. (2005). Emotion socialization in families of children with an anxiety disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 145–155. doi:10.1007/s10802-005-1823-1.Google Scholar
Suveg, C., Sood, E., Barmish, A., Tiwari, S., Hudson, J. L., & Kendall, P. C. (2008). “I'd rather not talk about it”: Emotion parenting in families of children with an anxiety disorder. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 875. doi:10.1037/a0012861.Google Scholar
Taumoepeau, M., & Reese, E. (2013). Maternal reminiscing, elaborative talk, and children's theory of mind: An intervention study. First Language, 33, 388–410. doi:10.1177/0142723713493347.Google Scholar
Tõugu, P., Tulviste, T., Schröder, L., Keller, H., & De Geer, B. (2011). Socialization of past event talk: Cultural differences in maternal elaborative reminiscing. Cognitive Development, 26, 142–154. doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2010.12.004.Google Scholar
Valentino, K., Comas, M., Nuttall, A. K., & Thomas, T. (2013). Training maltreating parents in elaborative and emotion-rich reminiscing with their preschool-aged children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37, 585–595. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.02.010.Google Scholar
Valentino, K., Hibel, L. C., Cummings, E. M., Nuttall, A. K., Comas, M., & McDonnell, C. G. (2015). Maternal elaborative reminiscing mediates the effect of child maltreatment on behavioral and physiological functioning. Development and Psychopathology, 27, 1515–1526. doi:10.1017/S0954579415000917.Google Scholar
van Bergen, P., & Salmon, K. (2010). Emotion-oriented reminiscing and children's recall of a novel event. Cognition and Emotion, 24, 991–1007. doi:10.1080/02699930903093326.Google Scholar
van Bergen, P., Salmon, K., Dadds, M. R., & Allen, J. (2009). The effects of mother training in emotion-rich, elaborative reminiscing on children's shared recall and emotion knowledge. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10, 162–187. doi:10.1080/15248370903155825.Google Scholar
Wang, Q., & Fivush, R. (2005). Mother–child conversations of emotionally salient events: Exploring the functions of emotional reminiscing in European-American and Chinese families. Social Development, 14, 473–495. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2005.00312.x.Google Scholar
Wareham, P., & Salmon, K. (2006). Mother–child reminiscing about everyday experiences: Implications for psychological interventions in the preschool years. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 535–554. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2006.05.001.Google Scholar
Waters, E., & Deane, K. E. (1985). Defining and assessing individual differences in attachment relationships: Q-methodology and the organization of behavior in infancy and early childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50 (1–2, Serial No. 209), 41–65.Google Scholar