Peer-reviewed article
Family Reminiscing Style: Parent Gender and Emotional Focus in Relation to Child Well-Being
Kelly McWilliams, Robyn Fıvush, Jennifer G. Bohanek, Kelly A. Marin ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how mothers and fathers talk with their 9- to 12-year-old children about shared memories, focusing on whether they discuss facts or emotions about positive and negative events. Mothers talked more elaborately than fathers overall, and both parents discussed facts more about positive events. The research found that mothers discussing facts about negative events predicted better child well-being, while fathers focusing on emotions predicted lower well-being.
Key points
- Mothers were more elaborative than fathers in family reminiscing conversations
- Both parents elaborated more about facts of positive events compared to negative events
- Maternal elaborations about facts of negative events were associated with higher child well-being
- Paternal elaborations about emotional aspects of both positive and negative events were associated with lower child well-being
- Fathers showed consistent reminiscing style across event types, while mothers showed differentiated styles by topic
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional and correlational, so causal relationships between parental reminiscing style and child well-being cannot be established. The sample is limited to middle-class, two-parent, racially diverse families, which may not represent other family structures or socioeconomic backgrounds.
Abstract
Family reminiscing is a critical part of family interaction related to child outcome. In this study, we extended previous research by examining both mothers and fathers, in two-parent racially diverse middle-class families, reminiscing with their 9- to 12-year-old children about both the facts and the emotional aspects of shared positive and negative events. Mothers were more elaborative than fathers, and both mothers and fathers elaborated and evaluated more about the facts of positive than negative events, but there were no differences in parental reminiscing about the emotional aspects of these events. Fathers showed a more consistent reminiscing style across event and information type, whereas mothers seem to show a more nuanced style differentiated by topic. Most interesting, maternal elaborations and evaluations about the facts of negative events were related to higher child well-being, whereas paternal elaborations and evaluations about the emotional aspects of both positive and negative events were related to lower child well-being. Implications for the gendered nature of reminiscing are discussed.