Negative events associated with physical and psychological suffering: how do children narrate them?

Being able to narrate a personal event is a very important requirement for children, both for social and school adjustment. Many studies deal with development of narration capabilities, both about positive and negative events (Fivush, 1998), and children’s knowledge of negative events, such as injuries and diseases (Bibace, Wiehe, & Leeman, 2001; Burgwyn-Bailes, Baker-Ward, Gordon, & Ornstein, 2001). However, how do children differ in their way to narrate and to represent negative events belonging to different fields, such as physical and psychological suffering? Does age influence narration and representation of such events? Children (5/6, 7/8 and 9/10 years old) narrated personal events prompted by four different labels, supposed to elicit narratives of negative experiences linked either to physical or psychological suffering. All narratives were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded in accordance to different dimensions. The results indicated age differences in the frequency of recalling a psychological vs. a physical event. Children’s ability to make a coherent narrative, to use mental states and to give causal explanations were also explored, comparing events from different labels. Results will be discussed in terms of narration abilities and possible different representations of events associated with physical and psychological suffering. These aspects could be taken into account to explain possible difficulties of children dealing with particular school demands.