The Longitudinal Influence of Parenting and Parents’ Traces on Narrative Identity in Young Adulthood

This longitudinal follow-up studied continued effects of parental influences on narrative identity in young adulthood. Decades of research have shown the importance of parental shared reminiscing and positive parenting for the development of children\u27s and youths\u27 autobiographical memory and narrative identity. Yet, research on long-term influences of parenting on narrative indices in adulthood is scarce, even though parents\u27 traces remain a part of narrative identity throughout the life span (Köber & Habermas, 2018). Therefore, in this study, 118 individuals (at time 1: Mage = 17.3 years, SD = .77, 73% female, 82% White) reported at age 17 on their perceived positive parenting. As emerging and young adults, as part of follow-ups at ages 26 and again at 32, participants provided life story interviews. First, it was tested whether earlier positive parenting longitudinally predicted parents\u27 traces in later life stories. Second, we studied the joint long-term prediction of parenting and parents\u27 traces to several narrative features of these young adults\u27 life stories, including emotional tone, coherent positive resolution, and narrative complexity. Results replicated prior research on parents\u27 traces and showed moreover that perceived parenting shape offspring\u27s narrative identity well into young adulthood. These long-term findings are consistent with the notion that narrative identity in adulthood is rooted in the family, and continuously shaped by experiences with parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)