Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Stories your parents should have told you

Photo by Michael Marfione from Emory's "Picturing Home" juried exhibit.

Do you know how your parents met? How about your grandparents?

Children who know more stories about relatives who came before them have better emotional well-being, according to Emory psychologists Robyn Fivush and Marshall Duke. Their analysis of dinner-time conversations and other measures of how well families work is now available in the Journal of Family Life.

The psychologists, and former Emory graduate student Jennifer Bohanek, developed a scale to measure how much kids know about their family histories. Teens who knew more stories about their extended family showed higher levels of well-being and identity achievement, even when controlling for general levels of family functioning, the study found.

Related:
What is your baby thinking?
What's your family's story?

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