Objectives: Older adults have repeatedly been referred to as more physically vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic, however, is not only about becoming physically ill. It has many psychosocial aspects: people are exposed to myriad life challenges. The life story approach does not ignore physical status but also emphasizes psychosocial strengths. It highlights that older people are likely to have developed resilience through experiencing life challenges and living across history. Method: We used the narrative method to review research on three strengths: tendency toward life reflection, adaptive use of personal memory, and temporal focus encouraging generativity. Results: For each, we (a) present evidence that this strength manifests in the second half of life, and (b) identify how it may specifically be applied in dealing with the challenges of the pandemic. In considering their life stories, the picture that emerges is one of older adults as having the potential to show considerable psychosocial strength despite the adversities of the pandemic. Discussion: We conclude that during this period of sweeping change in the lives of individuals of all ages, our older citizens may act as valuable societal anchors.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe disorder with poor prognosis. Therefore, a growing number of researchers emphasize the need to evaluate correlates of BPD present during adolescence that can be identified and targeted to prevent exacerbation over time. A core feature of BPD is a disturbed sense of self; however, such disturbances can manifest themselves in different ways in adolescence. In this study, we examined whether such disturbances would appear through self-reported identity disturbance and more indirectly through incoherent oral narratives, rated based on the content derived from the Child Attachment Interview. Thus, higher levels of identity diffusion and lower levels of narrative coherence of past events were expected to associate with BPD features in 70 inpatient adolescents. Findings confirmed hypotheses; however, when considering covariance between narrative coherence and identity diffusion, only identity diffusion remained significant. Findings are discussed in terms of how both constructs might be underlying mechanisms of a disturbed sense of self in BPD and how they speak to future treatment and a more dimensional conceptualization of personality disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

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. At baseline, 30 BPD patients and 30 matched control participants described and answered questions about their personal and their parents' life stories. At follow-up, 23 patients and 23 control participants repeated the same procedure after patients had completed 12 months of psychotherapy. At both baseline and follow-up, the life stories were coded for complexity and themes of agency, communion, communion fulfillment, and self-other confusion. BPD patients' personal life stories increased significantly in agency from baseline to follow-up compared with the control group, whereas other aspects of personal and parents' life stories did not change significantly after therapy. Development of agency through the reconstruction of personal life stories may be a crucial mechanism in psychotherapy with BPD patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Narrative coherence refers to the overall completeness of the narrative that helps the individual to draw meaning from past events. Research has predominantly focused on developmental trajectories of narrative coherence among typically developing individuals and less research sheds light on narrative coherence in adolescents facing serious psychological difficulties. This study is the first to apply Baerger and McAdams’s well-validated coding scheme of narrative coherence to adolescents and to rate narrative coherence based on the content derived from the Child Attachment Interview in the context of attachment security, mentalization, and internalizing and externalizing pathology in 70 inpatient adolescents. Findings emphasized that the coding scheme is applicable for adolescents and attachment narratives. Narrative coherence was negatively correlated with age and no gender differences were found. Higher attachment security and better mentalization both contributed to more coherent narratives. More coherent narratives predicted less externalizing problems, but when controlling for mentalization and attachment security, mentalization was the strongest predictor. The relation between narrative coherence and other social-cognitive constructs is discussed, as well as how poor narrative coherence should be taken into account with respect to psychopathology in adolescence. Finally, the value of this coding scheme to evaluating narrative coherence in adolescence is discussed.

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. In addition, they completed measures of identity disturbance and empathy. More positive personal life stories were related to lower identity disturbance and higher empathy. Vicarious life stories showed a similar pattern with respect to identity but surprisingly were unrelated to empathy. In addition, we found positive correlations between personal and vicarious life stories for number of chapters, chapter valence, and valence of causal connections. The study indicates that both personal and vicarious life stories may contribute to identity.