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Frontiers in Developmental Psychology ·

Volume 4 - 2026 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fdpys.2026.1846034

Motherhood-defining memories and narrative identity awareness in relation to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning following a parenting program

  • Christin Camia1*corresponding author
  • Antje von Suchodoletz2
  • Michelle P. Kelly3
  1. 1Psychology Department, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  2. 2Psychology Program, New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  3. 3Language, Cognition and Growth Division, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Abstract

Drawing on previous research showing that self- and relationship-defining memories relate to psychological and relational functioning, this study began to explore motherhood-defining memories and their relation to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning within a parenting program context. The study aimed to examine whether participation contributes to the narrative coherence of motherhood-defining memories. Participants were 155 mothers from diverse cultural backgrounds (M age = 32.85 years, SD age = 5.20) residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Seventy-five mothers participated in an eight-session parenting program, and 80 mothers served as controls in a comparison group. Motherhood-defining memories from both groups, collected before and after the program, were coded for narrative coherence. Mothers also completed self-report survey measures of narrative identity awareness, psychological wellbeing, parenting stress, and maternal self-efficacy. Results indicate that narrative coherence decreased over time in both groups, while narrative identity awareness increased in the program group. Moreover, in the program group, narrative identity awareness was associated with greater wellbeing and greater maternal self-efficacy at post-program, beyond baseline levels. The study provides insights into how women experience motherhood, points to the relevance of role-defining memories, and suggests that narrative identity awareness may inform role identity and related functioning.

Keywords

Introduction

Becoming a mother is a major transition in adult life, which requires psychological adjustment in personality and identity (Bühler et al., 2024; Cast, 2004). One way to adjust may be to construct personal narratives that help integrate the change into a wider autobiographical perspective, as personal storytelling supports both psychological adjustment (Camia and Zafar, 2021; Habermas and Köber, 2015; Vanderveren et al., 2020)

and identity work (Camia et al., 2022; Merrill et al., 2016). Based on this rationale, the present study begins to explore motherhood-defining memories, which may represent mothers' perspectives on motherhood in general and, specifically, on themselves in this role. Comparing a group of mothers who participated in an in-person parenting program with a comparison group, this study, spanning a 13-week period from pre- to post-program testing, investigated whether features of motherhood-defining memories are associated with mental wellbeing and parenting experiences.

Self- and relationship-defining memories and psychological functioning

In this study, we introduce the notion of motherhood-defining memories and begin exploring the narrative coherence of these memories and their relation to mental wellbeing, perceived parenting skills, and parenting stress. We conceptualize motherhood-defining memories as recollections of specific events that a mother would select to explain how she sees herself in the mother role. These memories can be positive or negative, connect to other life events concerned with motherhood or with mothers' own childhood, and should be clearly remembered and still personally important. We developed the notion of motherhood-defining memories based on the concept of self-defining memories, which exemplify central aspects of one's personality and identity (Blagov and Singer, 2004), and of relationship-defining memories, which represent central events and aspects in the course of a long-term committed relationship (Alea and Vick, 2010).

Self- and relationship-defining memories show several similarities. Both kinds of memories are vivid in people's memory, evoke strong emotions including visceral reactions, are frequently rehearsed in thinking and talking, and are linked to other memories of related themes, goals, ongoing concerns, or conflicts (Alea and Vick, 2010; Blagov and Singer, 2004; Fritsch et al., 2024). Importantly, self-defining memories anchor a person's coherent sense of self over time (Conway et al., 2004), and relationship-defining memories characterize enduring relationships (Alea et al., 2015; Singer, 2004). It is therefore not surprising that the ways in which self- and relationship-defining memories are recalled and narrated relate to individuals' psychological and relational functioning.

Since the major themes of self-defining memories reflect individuals' dominant identity domains and important life goals, these memories play a significant role in identity formation and adjustment to roles and responsibilities. For example, academic stress is a prominent theme in self-defining memories of students, and the frequency with which they think about these memories relates to their academic self-perception and the emotions related to these memories (Ghose et al., 2026; Jiang et al., 2023). Moreover, recalling positive self-defining memories is associated with greater self-esteem, whereas recollecting negative self-defining memories is associated with lower self-esteem (Çili and Stopa, 2015). These associations, however, appear to be moderated by the meaning individuals draw from their positive and negative memories. When self-defining memories remained non-integrated into the wider life story because individuals had not abstracted meaning from these important life events, they described themselves more in terms of emotional states (e.g., happy, sad, scared) than in terms of personal characteristics (e.g., honest, good listener, love shopping) or social identities (e.g., mother, employee, woman; Çili and Stopa, 2015). In contrast, self-defining memories imbued with positive meaning or considered a chance for self-growth appear to support self-esteem and psychological wellbeing if linked to adaptive memory use and a healthy level of self-compassion (Booker, 2022; Liao et al., 2018).

In the same way that self-defining memories relate to psychological functioning, relationship-defining memories connect to relationship functioning, as these memories form the knowledge base of the relational identity. A recent meta-analysis including 14 studies conducted mainly in Western societies found a moderate positive overall effect size between different features of relationship-defining memories and marital outcomes (r = 0.334), and an even higher positive effect size with marital satisfaction (r = 0.445, Majzoobi and Forstmeier, 2022).

One determinant contributing to the positive association between how people tell their couple memories and relationship functioning is narrative coherence (Majzoobi and Forstmeier, 2022). From a narrative psychology perspective, narrative coherence is a core mechanism through which individuals derive autobiographical meaning from personal experiences, as coherent storytelling organizes life events into a structured, temporally and thematically integrated account that allows them to understand experiences as connected, purposeful, and relevant to their sense of self (Fivush, 2025; Waters and Köber, 2018). While narrative coherence is coded in concrete narratives, individuals may also be aware of how coherent they perceive their life stories to be. The measure of narrative identity awareness captures this understanding beyond and in addition to coherence of concrete narratives (Hallford and Mellor, 2017).

In the context of relationship-defining memories, narrative coherence in a couple's joint storytelling about a problematic experience was negatively associated with the husband's mental health symptoms and perceived stress (Koenig Kellas et al., 2010) as well as with decreased negative marital quality (Alea et al., 2010). Interestingly, this association between narrative coherence and marital quality emerged in both studies, although (Koenig Kellas et al. 2010) relied on narrative coherence as coded by trained raters, whereas (Alea et al. 2010) measured narrative coherence as self-rated by participants. Extending the concept of relationship-defining memories beyond couple relationships, (Song et al. 2025) recently investigated memories that define relationships with parents and peers among Asian and European American college students. Measuring narrative coherence using the same established coding scheme (Reese et al., 2011) as in this study, coherent negative parent memories from which participants had drawn autobiographical personal meaning correlated positively with wellbeing across both cultural groups, as did coherent positive parent memories. Moreover, only parent relationship memories, not peer relationship memories, were predictive of wellbeing (Song et al., 2025), probably because the relationship with parents continues to exert a formative influence on personal storytelling and identity throughout adult life (Camia et al., 2021; Köber and Habermas, 2018).

Motherhood-defining memories, wellbeing, and maternal functioning

Drawing from previous research on self- and relationship-defining memories, this study explores motherhood-defining memories and their relation to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning. In contrast to memories that define the self or relationships to significant others, motherhood-defining memories may reflect how a woman adjusts to her role as a mother. Although identification with roles is a self-related process and although roles are usually assigned within committed relationships (e.g., marriage, parenting, occupation), role-defining memories may show only partial conceptual overlap with self- and relationship-defining memories. While self-defining memories concern significant aspects of the self (Singer and Blagov, 2004) and relationship-defining memories reflect on relationship dynamics (Alea and Vick, 2010), we theorize that role-defining memories provide insight into how well individuals grow into new roles and how they perceive themselves in these roles. By definition, roles are associated with socially shared expectations, norms, rights, and obligations, which may carry aspects of competence, duty, achievement, responsibility, and conformity to role expectations, but also of social constraints, pressure, failure, and guilt. As individuals are usually expected to comply with their social roles, even when one's identity or the relationship defining the role is not the primary focus, role-defining memories may emphasize more than self- or relationship-defining memories the acquisition, enactment, maintenance, or negotiation of social roles, as well as the achievements and challenges associated with meeting role expectations (Williamson et al., 2023).

Becoming a parent is a life event of crucial importance in all cultures (Andrews, 2002; Johnston-Ataata, 2019) that involves the acquisition of a profound new social role. For many women, the transition to motherhood is associated with substantial changes in self-concept and identity development, making motherhood an important component of identity (Laney et al., 2015; Mercer, 2004). Therefore, women who have recently become mothers may feel the need to craft coherent and meaningful narratives that integrate this transitional experience into their broader biographical timeline and identity (Johnston-Ataata, 2019). In this sense, narrative coherence in motherhood-defining memories may indicate how much mothers accepted and made meaning of the changes that motherhood brought to their lives and identities. Moreover, narrative coherence of motherhood-defining memories could be predictive of psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning, as is narrative coherence of self- and relationship-defining memories for psychological and relational functioning (Çili and Stopa, 2015; Majzoobi and Forstmeier, 2022; Song et al., 2025).

We tested this theoretical notion in the context of a parenting program that aimed to support new mothers in fostering their children's healthy development and overall wellbeing (von Suchodoletz et al., 2026). Parenting programs can be effective in improving parents' knowledge, skills, efficacy, and resources in ways that enhance parental wellbeing and caregiving capacity, which in turn support positive developmental outcomes for their children (Jeong et al., 2021; Maciel et al., 2023; von Suchodoletz et al., 2025, 2026). While the parenting program primarily aimed to help mothers develop nurturing relationships with their children by providing knowledge on child development and evidence-based parenting practices, this study capitalized on this context by eliciting motherhood-defining memories from mothers who participated in the parenting program and from those in the comparison group. Both groups were tested before and after the parenting program, allowing the examination of pre- and post-program associations between narrative coherence of motherhood-defining memories and psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning.

Specifically, we hypothesized that, unlike the comparison group, mothers in the program group would show an increase in narrative coherence and narrative identity awareness from pre- to post-program assessment (Hypothesis 1). Further, we expected that greater narrative coherence and greater narrative identity awareness from pre- to post-program would contribute to greater psychological wellbeing, greater maternal self-efficacy, and lower parenting stress from pre- to post-program (Hypothesis 2).

Method

Participants

Participants in this study were 155 mothers residing in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, 75 in the parenting program group, and 80 in the comparison group. Mothers were, on average, 32.85 years old (SD = 5.20) (parenting program group: Mage = 33.27 years, SD = 5.49; comparison group: Mage = 32.44 years, SD = 4.91). Mothers represented a range of nationalities, including Emirati (30.32%), Indian (12.90%), Egyptian (6.45%), Jordanian (6.45%), Lebanese (5.81%), British (3.23%), and US-American (3.23%). Altogether, 62.58% had an Arabic background and 37.42% had a non-Arabic background. Nearly all mothers (94.84%) were married. They were highly educated, with 92.72% holding tertiary education degrees. More than half of the mothers (62.91%) were employed either full-time or part-time. Most mothers (74.17%) described their family income as about average compared to other families in their community. About half of the mothers (56.95%) reported having a domestic helper. At the time of recruitment, most mothers (72.00%) reported having only one child. Their firstborn child, 56.67% of whom were boys, was, on average, 24.37 months old (SD = 13.24). Arabic was the primary language spoken at home for 56.95 % of participants, followed by English (26.49 %), Malayalam (6.62%), Urdu (3.97%), and other languages (5.97%). The program and comparison group did not differ in education (χ2(4) = 2.35, p = 0.672), employment status (χ2(2) = 2.70, p = 0.259), household income (χ2(2) = 3.72, p = 0.156), child gender (χ2(2) = 0.04, p = 0.835), or child age (t(153) = −1.11, p = 0.271).

Procedure

Recruitment

The parenting program was advertised as a free service to the community, providing mothers with evidence-based insights into their child's development, practical advice to foster their child's learning, and a supportive community of other mothers. Using a combination of recruitment methods, flyers were distributed through various networks of mothers with young children, including local women's organizations, community groups, playdate networks, and professional associations. Recruitment materials were also placed in public spaces frequently visited by mothers of young children, including retail stores, family-friendly cafés, and play areas in malls and community centers. In addition, the study was promoted through social media platforms and word of mouth.

Procedure

Mothers interested in participation completed an online registration form that included an eligibility screening. Eligibility criteria required residence in Abu Dhabi and having a first-born child aged between birth and 3 years, 11 months. Eligible mothers were then sent a consent form describing the study and informing them that they would be assigned to either the parenting program or the comparison group. Following consent, participants completed an online survey in Qualtrics, which served as the measurement at Time 1. Once the survey was complete, they were then assigned to one of the two study groups and informed of their assignment by the research team. Although group randomization was intended, it was not feasible due to time constraints. Hence, group assignment was based on the timing of consent and survey submission, with priority given to the parenting program group to allow the program to start within the same week

The survey was initially developed in English and professionally translated into Arabic, making it available in both languages. Subsequently, research assistants fluent in both languages reviewed the Arabic version, and any discrepancies were resolved through consensus. The survey included a combination of standardized, validated instruments and self-developed items tailored to the specific study context. Items assessing a given outcome were grouped into thematic blocks. To reduce order effects within the survey itself, the presentation order of these question blocks was counterbalanced using the randomizer function in the Qualtrics Survey Flow. To monitor data quality and detect inattentive or automated responses, attention check items were embedded throughout the survey. These checks instructed participants to select a specific response (e.g., “Please select ‘strongly agree' for this question”) and were randomly placed within survey blocks. At Time 1, participants were presented with four attention-check questions and were considered to have passed the attention check if they answered at least three questions correctly. Participants who failed the attention check were excluded. The attention-check pass rate was 90.24% in the parenting program group and 92.75% in the control group. At Time 2, participants were presented with three attention-check questions and were considered to have passed the attention check if they answered at least two questions correctly. The attention-check pass rate was 94.44% in the parenting program group and 98.21% in the control group. Survey completion took about 25 to 30 min.

Following the completion of the eight parenting program sessions, participants completed the same survey at Time 2. At the same measurement time, participants in the comparison group also completed the survey again. They did not receive any additional information beyond the details needed to complete the online survey. The program group received no compensation, whereas the comparison group received a 100 AED (ca. 25 USD) voucher for a local bookstore as a gesture of appreciation for their time.

Ethics approval was obtained from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institutional Review Board (approval number HRPP-2023-99) and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health (approval number DOH/CVDC/2023/1626). The present study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all mothers prior to participation in the study.

Parenting program

The parenting program spanned 13 weeks, from October 2023 to January 2024. Its aim was to provide knowledge about child development and evidence-based parenting practices to improve mothers' parenting skills and psychological wellbeing (von Suchodoletz et al., 2026). Given this opportunity to develop a new and culturally sensitive parenting program, we purposefully designed content components that integrate maternal identity and personal history with child developmental outcomes. Specifically, we considered the mothers' autobiographical background, upbringing, and identification with the maternal role (Kagitcibasi, 2005; Laney et al., 2015), as well as the development of autobiographical memory in their children via maternal reminiscing (Reese et al., 2019; Waters et al., 2019; Wu and Jobson, 2019).

Seven structured, two-hour sessions were delivered weekly, with an eighth booster session after a six-week break, and were conducted in person in small groups of ~10 mothers without their children to encourage high interactivity. Participants assigned to the parenting program group received an electronic schedule from which they could choose their preferred language (Arabic or English), location, day, and time for weekly sessions. A total of eleven groups, six Arabic-speaking and five English-speaking, were run in parallel.

Each weekly session incorporated role-plays, play-based activities, and small-group discussions while maintaining a logical framework linking topics seamlessly within and across sessions, complemented by four WhatsApp prompts sent to participants after each session. Comprehensive program materials were developed for both participants and facilitators, ensuring a cohesive and engaging experience. Notably, session 2 on child-mother interaction included a section on childhood memories and family traditions. Mothers were asked what they remember from their family's childhood home, what traditions and routines were appreciated in their original family, and which aspects of child-rearing are important in their cultures. These questions served to raise autobiographical awareness, particularly regarding how participants' perceptions of their own parenting experiences may inform their motherhood. Three weeks later, session 5 focused on brain development, including the development of autobiographical memory. In this context, mothers in the program group learned that their children form memories from early on and that an elaborate conversational style helps develop and recall autobiographical memories (Fivush, 2019; Waters et al., 2019). In a role-play activity, mothers practiced a conversation about a positive event using open-ended language, with each participant playing once the child and, in a second role-play, the mother. Additionally, mothers were asked to reflect on their own childhood, how conversations with their parents took place, how they felt back then, and how this experience might inform their own conversation style with their children.

Measures

Narrative prompt

As part of the online survey, mothers were requested to recount a motherhood-defining memory. Adapted from previous research on self-defining and relationship-defining memories (Alea et al., 2015; Alea and Vick, 2010; Moffitt and Singer, 1994), mothers were asked: “Can you think of an important event in your life that shows who you are as a mother? It is a memory that you would share to explain how you see yourself as a mother. It could be a good memory or a bad one, but it's something that you clearly remember and is still important for you. It is about one specific event, but it can be connected to other events related to you being a mother or to your own childhood. Please write down this memory in detail, and remember there are no right or wrong answers.”

Using the Narrative Coherence Coding Scheme by (Reese et al. 2011), narratives were coded for the three coherence dimensions context, chronology, and theme. Context captures information on time and place of the narrated life event. Chronology is a measure of temporal sequencing within the narrative. Theme captures the extent to which a narrative was elaborated and incorporated into the broader life story of the narrator. Two undergraduate research assistants coded each dimension on a 4-point scale, with 0 representing no coherence and 3 representing full coherence. Table 1 presents narratives of high and low narrative coherence of the program and the comparison group at pre- and post-program assessment.

Table 1. Narrative examples for high and low narrative coherence separated by group condition and measurement time.

Group conditionTime 1Time 2
Program groupMother, 33 years old, from Morocco
Once my boys were both sitting next to me and my husband, my youngest who's now almost 8 months old was trying to engage with his older brother who's almost 2,5 y; then out of nowhere my oldest slaps his baby brother in the face, it was quite a slap, sudden and somewhat strong so the baby is hurt both literally and figuratively, my instant reaction was to hold both of them, console my youngest and make sure he was okay, and then hold a space for my toddler's feelings, he felt scared too. After everyone calmed down, I talked to my oldest, validated his feelings and let him know what he did was not okay and never okay to do. I felt proud of the parent I was, a parent I wish I had as a child, a parent who makes you feel safe. High Coherence: Context: 0 Chronology: 3 Theme: 3I saw a picture of me framed in my father in law's house. It was a picture of me reading a book to both my boys, while having both sit on my lap. When I saw that picture, I confirmed what I believe about myself, which is that I am a fair and loving mother. I care about my children, about who they are and what they like/dislike. I cherish my time with them and I enjoy spending time with them. I am far from perfect but even when I experience contrast, I still find a way to go back and fall into alignment with my higher self. High Coherence: Context: 1 Chronology: 3 Theme: 3
Mother, 31 years old, from the United Arab Emirates
I am trying hard to be a good mother and wife and a beautiful addition to their lives. Low Coherence: Context: 0 Chronology: 0 Theme: 1I resemble my mom in motherhood, but I try to be a better version in all aspects. Low Coherence: Context: 0 Chronology: 0 Theme: 1
Comparison groupMother, 35 years old, from China
I remember that 2 months after my child is born, we moved to a new country and there I had a difficult time. My husband has to work all day and I don't have support from my family/friends cause they live in another country. I feel locked in home all day, then 1 day I feel so tired and frustrated cause the baby is not sleeping. So I decided to go out and simply take a walk around the promenade. When I see the sea and the wind blow on my face I feel some things change inside me. I need to change my attitude and stop complaining everyday. It is damage for me and for the baby who has done nothing wrong. I started to appreciate small things in life that bring me happiness and there is nothing wrong about me. It is just a process to becoming a mother, you have to sacrifice some part of your time, your hobby or interest, but you will gain a wonderful hug and smile in the end of the day and everything is worth it! High Coherence: Context: 1 Chronology: 3 Theme: 2When my baby is 2 months old we have to live in another country where I have no family and friends. I feel alone when my husband is going to work and I am alone with the baby at home. I tried to find support on the Internet and I found a group of mummies that are in the same situation as I am. We make friends with them and did a couple of play dates. It's so helpful to meet mummies that are in the same situation cause they will listen to you, they understand you and they will give you a lot of advice. High Coherence: Context: 1 Chronology: 3 Theme: 3
Mother, 31 years old, from Pakistan
During childhood, I always felt that my parents were too busy with household/work related responsibilities and thus had very little time to play with me thus I always played alone. Therefore, now I make the most priority to play with my son most of the time so he doesn't feel lonely like how i did when i was a child. Low Coherence: Context: 1 Chronology: 1 Theme: 1My mother would be so busy in housework that she couldn't play with us. Low Coherence: Context: 0 Chronology: 0 Theme: 1

Both coders, blind to the purpose and hypotheses of this study, were trained by the first author on different sets of narratives. Coders rated the narratives for this study only after substantial single-measure interrater reliability was established (intra-class correlation, ICC > 0.080). Inter-rater reliabilities were high with ICC = 0.91 for context, ICC = 0.80 for chronology, and ICC = 0.80 for theme. One coder rated all narratives on context and chronology, while the other coder coded theme. All ambiguities were resolved in discussion with the first author. Once coding was complete, the first author conducted a quality check of 25% of the narratives to ensure the coding scheme was correctly applied throughout the entire coding process. In line with prior research (Camia et al., 2022; Vanderveren et al., 2020; Waters and Fivush, 2015), the scores of coherence dimensions were summed to create an overall coherence score ranging from zero to nine for each narrative.

Awareness of narrative identity

The Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (Hallford and Mellor, 2017) was used to assess mothers' awareness of their own life story. This 20-item instrument includes four subscales, each comprising five items that measure: awareness of one's life story (e.g., “The experiences from my past make the story of who I am.”), temporal coherence (e.g., “When I'm thinking back over experiences I have had, I know when they occurred in my life.”), causal coherence (e.g., “Things that have happened over the course of my life are meaningfully tied together.”), and thematic coherence (e.g., “There are clear themes relating to who I am that can be found in my personal memories.”). Responses were recorded on an 11-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (completely disagree) to 10 (completely agree). Item scores were summed to compute a composite score separately for each subscale, with higher values indicating greater narrative identity awareness. Internal consistency of the subscales was good across both time points (Awareness subscale Cronbach's α = 0.86–0.88; Temporal Coherence subscale Cronbach's α = 0.92–0.94; Causal Coherence subscale Cronbach's α = 0.91 at both times; Thematic Coherence subscale Cronbach's α = 0.92–0.94).

Mothers' psychological wellbeing

Psychological wellbeing was measured with the WHO-5 WellBeing Index, a brief 5-item self-report questionnaire assessing psychological wellbeing over the past 2 weeks (World Health Organization, 2024). Participants rated positive mood, vitality, and general interest on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (at no time) to 5 (all of the time; e.g., “I have felt cheerful and in good spirits.”). Item scores were averaged, with higher scores indicating greater psychological wellbeing. Internal consistency of the scale was good across both time points (Cronbach's α = 0.84–0.88).

Mothers' perceived self-efficacy

Mothers' perceived self-efficacy was assessed using the short form of the Me as a Parent (MaaP) scale (Matthews et al., 2022), which measures mothers' beliefs in their ability to perform parenting tasks successfully. Mothers rated their agreement to four items (e.g., “I have all the skills necessary to be a good parent to my child.”) on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher averaged item scores reflected higher levels of mothers' perceived self-efficacy. Internal consistency of the scale was good at both time points (Cronbach's α = 0.84–0.89).

Mothers' perceived parenting stress

Mothers were asked about their perceived stress related to child-rearing, using the items from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (Cooper et al., 2009). Mothers indicated agreement (0 = strongly disagree to 3 = strongly agree) with the four statements “Being a parent is harder than I thought it would be,” “I feel trapped by my responsibilities as a parent,” “I find that taking care of my child(ren) is much more work than pleasure,” and “I often feel tired, worn out, or exhausted from raising a family.” Higher averaged item scores reflected higher levels of perceived maternal stress. Internal consistency of the scale was good with Cronbach's α = 0.80 at both time points.

Results

To address the first hypothesis, a series of repeated-measures ANOVAs was conducted to test for differences between study groups and measurement times. Table 2 shows that there were no study group effects for narrative coherence. However, the significant effect of measurement time indicated that narrative coherence decreased in both study groups from Time 1 to Time 2. For narrative identity awareness, several subscales showed significant effects of measurement time and a significant interaction of measurement time and study group. The subscale awareness of narrative identity increased in the program group from pre- to post-program, whereas it remained unchanged in the comparison group. Self-rated temporal coherence showed no change over time in either group, but the subscale of self-rated causal coherence increased over time in both groups. Finally, self-rated thematic coherence increased in the program group from Time 1 to Time 2 but remained unchanged in the control group. Altogether, narrative coherence changed in the program group only when self-rated, which partially supports the first hypothesis.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and inferential comparison of study variables separated by group and measurement time.

VariableProgram GroupControl GroupGroupRepeated ANOVA Main effects
Time 1Time 2Time 1Time 2Measurement timeMeasurement time × group
Range*N**M**SD**M**SD**N**M**SD**M**SD**F (df)*ηp2*Power**F (df)*ηp2*Power**F (df)*ηp2*Power*
Narrative coherence1–9395.002.653.872.50354.942.553.692.580.07 (1,72)0.0010.069.03* (1,72)0.1110.840.026 (1, 72)0.0000.05
ANIQ awareness0–505835.199.7640.937.204935.4910.1635.848.742.68 (1, 105)0.0250.3710.21* (1, 105)0.0890.898.02* (1, 105)0.0710.80
ANIQ temporal coherence0–505737.4011.0139.269.044936.4510.3236.6910.480.930.0090.1591.81 (1, 104)0.0170.271.07 (1, 104)0.0100.18
ANIQ causal coherence0–505836.528.3839.528.364935.7611.0337.598.530.74 (1, 105)0.0070.1368.84* (1, 105)0.0780.840.51 (1, 105)0.0050.11
ANIQ thematic coherence0–507035.799.1940.646.066935.949.5336.728.092.37 (1, 137)0.0170.33315.86* (1, 137)0.100.988.31* (1, 137)0.0570.82
Mental wellbeing1–5602.290.963.400.72492.460.822.620.985.04* (1,107)0.0450.6141.08* (1,107)0.2771.0022.29* (1, 107)0.1721.00
Maternal self-efficacy1–5593.840.544.350.52503.870.663.790.6717.16* (1,107)0.1380.986.73* (1,107)0.0590.7332.19* (1, 107)0.2311.00
Parenting stress0–3572.780.652.530.56482.780.652.690.700.50 (1,103)0.0050.1111.32* (1,103)0.100.922.57 (1, 103)0.0240.356

ANIQ, awareness of narrative identity questionnaire. F = Pillai's F. * < 0.05.

Additional repeated measures ANOVAs tested for differences in mothers' psychological wellbeing, maternal self-efficacy, and perceived parenting stress, and revealed effects of study group, measurement time, and their interaction (Table 2). Mothers' psychological wellbeing increased significantly in the program group, whereas it remained unchanged in the comparison group. Similarly, maternal self-efficacy increased only in the program group and remained stable in the comparison group. Perceived parenting stress decreased in both groups, as reflected in a significant effect of measurement time. However, additional paired samples t-tests revealed that the decline of parenting stress reached significance only in the program group (t(56) = 3.50, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.46), rendering the stress levels similarly high in both groups at Time 2.

Before turning to the second hypothesis, a series of correlations was computed to examine the relationships among the study variables. As shown in Table 3, narrative coherence, as coded in the narratives, showed only a few correlations with the awareness of narrative identity questionnaire subscales. The sum score of narrative coherence as well as chronology at Time 1 correlated with self-rated causal and thematic coherence at Time 1, and with self-rated causal coherence at Time 2. Further, at Time 2, context, as coded in the narratives, correlated with narrative identity awareness at Time 2.

Table 3. Zero-order correlations between narrative coherence and awareness of narrative identity (ANIQ).

VariableAwareness of Narrative Questionnaire (ANIQ)
Time 1Time 2
AwarenessTemporalCausalThematicAwarenessTemporalCausalThematic
Narrative coherenceTime 1Sum score−0.129−0.023−0.211*−0.1220.000−0.084−0.204−0.182
Context−0.165−0.087−0.184−0.213*−0.034−0.098−0.058−0.090
Chronology−0.083−0.010−0.190*−0.0720.073−0.095−0.246*−0.195
Theme−0.059−0.004−0.142−0.053−0.043−0.046−0.169−0.123
Time 2Sum score0.122−0.020−0.0060.012−0.042−0.036−0.0900.081
Context−0.118−0.085−0.188−0.203−0.223*−0.015−0.112−0.100
Chronology0.161−0.009−0.0010.030−0.018−0.007−0.0140.120
Theme0.1470.0310.1390.1530.109−0.040−0.1000.180

*p < 0.05. N of significant correlations ranged from 89 to 115; statistical power of significant correlations ranged from 0.53 to 0.65 (Champely et al., 2017).

Similarly, narrative coherence showed only a few correlations with mental wellbeing and maternal functioning (Table 4). Unexpectedly, the narrative coherence sum score and narrative context correlated negatively with maternal self-efficacy at Time 1 and with psychological wellbeing at Time 2. In contrast, the subscales of the awareness of narrative identity questionnaire showed various correlations with mothers' psychological wellbeing, self-efficacy, and parenting stress (Table 4). En gros, self-rated temporal, causal, and thematic coherence correlated positively with psychological wellbeing and maternal self-efficacy, and negatively with parenting stress, mainly at Time 2, whereas awareness of narrative identity showed little correlation with these measures (Table 4).

Table 4. Zero-order correlations between narrative coherence and awareness of narrative identity (ANIQ), and mental wellbeing and maternal functioning across study groups.

VariableTime 1Time 2
Mental wellbeingMaternal self-efficacyParenting stressMental wellbeingMaternal self-efficacyParenting stress
Narrative coherenceTime 1Sum score−0.060−0.189*−0.022−0.113−0.012−0.045
Context−0.103−0.271*−0.063−0.237*−0.2060.047
Chronology−0.046−0.1120.030−0.067−0.028−0.033
Theme0.022−0.098−0.0310.0460.176−0.117
Time 2Sum score−0.1260.0150.0190.0100.0850.083
Context−0.062−0.027−0.012−0.132−0.030−0.059
Chronology−0.1190.0520.0360.0540.1140.069
Theme−0.0870.032−0.0120.0910.1690.116
ANIQTime 1Awareness0.112−0.0270.0390.1550.166−0.016
Temporal0.208*0.155−0.0840.1390.316*−0.165
Causal0.1460.180*−0.1110.194*0.327*−0.213*
Thematic0.1470.141−0.0910.248*0.307*−0.168
Time 2Awareness0.004−0.0710.0900.306*0.137−0.088
Temporal0.198*0.136−0.0260.276*0.333*−0.222*
Causal0.0410.1120.0350.292*0.280*−0.131
Thematic−0.0390.1060.0720.360*0.335*−0.133

*p < 0.05. ANIQ = Awareness of Narrative Questionnaire. N of significant correlations for narrative coherence ranged from 89 to 119; statistical power of significant correlations for narrative coherence ranged from 0.54 to 0.85. N of significant correlations for the ANIQ ranged from 106 to 140; statistical power of significant correlations for ANIQ ranged from 0.52 to 0.98 (Champely et al., 2017).

To test the second hypothesis, multiple regression models were conducted to test the predictive value of narrative coherence and narrative identity awareness for mothers' psychological wellbeing, maternal self-efficacy, and parenting stress. To test narrative coherence and narrative identity awareness as valid predictors beyond baseline measures, psychological wellbeing, maternal self-efficacy, and parenting stress measured at Time 1 were entered first to predict psychological wellbeing, maternal self-efficacy, and parenting stress measured at Time 2. Second, the narrative coherence sum score and the narrative identity awareness subscales from both measurement times were entered as predictors in separate models. Because the relatively small sample size did not allow many predictors to be entered simultaneously (Algina and Olejnik, 2003), we computed the models for each group1 separately and allowed stepwise entry of the four subscales of narrative identity awareness, automatically excluding insignificant predictors.

As shown in Table 5, narrative coherence did not significantly contribute to psychological wellbeing in either group. Similarly, none of the narrative identity awareness subscales were associated with psychological wellbeing in the comparison group. In contrast, the ANIQ thematic coherence subscale at Time 2 contributed positively to the program group's psychological wellbeing. Mothers who showed higher awareness of the thematic coherence of their life story at Time 2, also showed higher psychological wellbeing at Time 2.

Table 5. Regression models predicting mental wellbeing, mothers' perceived self-efficacy, and parenting stress at Time 2.

Variable Study group PredictorsPsychological wellbeing Time 2
Program groupComparison group
*B**SE B**ß**R2**Power**B**SE B**ß**R2**Power*
Constant3.162*0.390.1120.950.4710.9420.2860.95
Baseline0.1330.1240.1710.875*0.2920.517
Narrative coherenceTime 1−0.0640.045−0.230−0.0400.070−0.095
Time 20.0560.0470.191−0.0130.070−0.031
Constant0.7840.5260.3140.951.308*0.4090.1980.95
Baseline0 0.1140.0850.1520.536*0.1590.445
ANIQ subscales——————————
ANIQ thematic Time 20.057*0.0120.535———————
Maternal self-efficacy Time 2
Constant3.100*0.6240.1190.950.1590.4780.7010.97
Baseline0.2880.1510.859*0.1080.863
Narrative coherenceTime 10.0040.0350.0180.0580.0300.214
Time 20.0280.0350.135−0.0060.029−0.023
Constant1.417*0.5950.3200.0951.091*0.3470.7680.96
Baseline0.395*0.1120.4000.668*0.0800.664
ANIQ temporalTime 1–––0.014*0.0070.218
ANIQ causalTime 1–––−0.029*0.011−0.479
ANIQ thematicTime 1–––0.045*0.0110.690
ANIQ thematicTime 20.035*0.0090.449–––
ANIQ awarenessTime 2–––−0.026*0.006−0.338
Parenting Stress Time 2
Constant0.6310.4040.4560.950.4210.4530.5860.96
Baseline0.591*0.1120.6930.860*0.1450.755
Narrative coherenceTime 10.0550.0300.241−0.0240.037−0.082
Time 2−0.0060.031−0.0240.0020.0370.005
Constant1.013*0.2740.3900.951.188*0.4190.5930.97
Baseline0.542*0.0950.6240.745*0.1060.694
ANIQ temporal Time 2–––−0.016*0.007−0.235

*p < 0.05. The four ANIQ subscales were entered and tested stepwise but automatically excluded when non-significant. Therefore, we report only the best models and the subscales when significant. Power analyses were computed using G*Power (Faul et al., 2009).

Regarding maternal self-efficacy, narrative coherence showed no associations with maternal self-efficacy in either group. In contrast, several subscales of self-rated narrative identity awareness were associated with maternal self-efficacy. In the program group, the ANIQ thematic coherence subscale at Time 2 related positively to maternal self-efficacy at Time 2. In the comparison group, the ANIQ temporal and thematic coherence subscales measured at Time 1 contributed positively to maternal self-efficacy at Time 2, whereas the causal coherence subscale at Time 1 and the awareness subscale at Time 2 related negatively to it.

As for parenting stress, there was no association with narrative coherence in either group, nor with any subscale of narrative identity awareness in the program group. Only in the comparison group, the ANIQ temporal coherence subscale assessed at Time 2 showed a negative association with parental stress at Time 2. Mothers in the comparison group who showed greater awareness of the temporal coherence of their life story post-program displayed less parental stress post-program.

Discussion

Building on research on self- and relationship-defining memories, this study explored role-defining memories through the example of motherhood and examined their relation to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning. We defined role-defining memories as autobiographical memories that portray the self in terms of a particular social role and provide insight into the acquisition, enactment, maintenance, and negotiation of that role. Drawing on aspects of both self-defining and relationship-defining memories (Alea and Vick, 2010; Singer and Blagov, 2004), we propose role-defining memories as a distinct class of autobiographical memories. Consistent with this conceptualization, we found that mothers readily recalled memories that reflected on their motherhood and their identification with this social role. However, in contrast to self- and relationship-defining memories relating to psychological functioning and relationship quality (Alea et al., 2015; Alea and Vick, 2010; Booker, 2022; Çili and Stopa, 2015; Liao et al., 2018; Majzoobi and Forstmeier, 2022; Song et al., 2025), we did not find narrative coherence of motherhood-defining memories but general awareness of narrative identity to relate to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning. In the following, we will discuss our main results and point to several future research directions that role-defining memories may entail.

We compared narrative coherence as one feature of motherhood-defining memories and general awareness of narrative identity in mothers who had participated in a parenting program to a comparison group. We found decreasing narrative coherence and increasing narrative identity awareness from pre- to post-program assessment. These diverging trends in both measures were unexpected, as the parenting program, especially the components focusing on childhood memories and participants' own upbringings, aimed to help participants adjust to their roles as mothers and to raise the autobiographical salience of motherhood-related memories. However, we may not have observed an increase in narrative coherence as we asked mothers only for single-event episodes. Had we instead asked for several motherhood-defining memories or for entire life narratives, we may have found that mothers changed the way they integrated their transition to motherhood into their wider life stories over the course of the program. Another limitation is that we did not control for age or valence of the motherhood-defining memories since this study aimed at a first exploration of this kind of memories. Increasing memory age, however, may decline narrative coherence (Camia et al., 2022; Vanaken et al., 2022), as older memories are better processed and recounted in more condensed, shorter narratives (Habermas and Berger, 2011). Further, narrative coherence differs in positive and negative experiences (Alea et al., 2010; Bohanek et al., 2005; Habermas and Berger, 2011; Waters et al., 2013). Future research on parenting programs and role transitions may reveal clearer changes in narrative coherence if studies include diverse narratives, control for event age and valence, and run over longer time periods.

However, participation in the parenting program significantly increased self-rated narrative identity awareness and thematic coherence. This finding supports the idea that perceived coherence of one's life story relates to psychological adjustment to role transitions and role identity, and that interventions that support role identity can raise narrative identity awareness. Interventions that aim to support role transitions, e.g., school-to-university transition programs, parenting programs, expatriation programs, or career-change workshops, could integrate content that heightens the autobiographical salience of related memories. This seems meaningful, especially given the significant associations we found between narrative identity awareness and psychological wellbeing, maternal self-efficacy, and perceived parenting stress.

In the program but not in the comparison group, self-rated thematic coherence related significantly to mental wellbeing and maternal self-efficacy. This finding is consistent with previous short-term longitudinal research showing that perceived coherence of one's life story buffers against depressive symptoms over a 3-week time interval by increasing self-esteem, self-efficacy, and competence (Hallford et al., 2021). It is likely that the parenting program succeeded, as intended, to raise both narrative identity awareness and maternal self-efficacy, and that both promoted the psychological wellbeing of mothers in the program group (von Suchodoletz et al., 2026). Increasing awareness and insight into why and how past events occurred and how they changed life positively bolsters the sense of self, self-understanding, self-concept, and wellbeing (Adler et al., 2015; Barry et al., 2019; Habermas and Köber, 2015; Hallford and Mellor, 2016; Mitchell et al., 2020). It is possible that the brief reminiscence exercises in which the mothers of the program group engaged contributed to the positive associations observed between narrative identity awareness, maternal self-efficacy, and psychological wellbeing.

In the comparison group, the narrative identity awareness subscales showed diverse associations with maternal self-efficacy. While the positive associations of self-rated temporal and thematic coherence corroborate previous findings with self-efficacy (Hallford et al., 2021), the negative associations of narrative identity awareness and self-rated causal coherence with maternal efficacy might be due to our experimental design. It is possible that the mothers in the comparison group experienced an increase in self-rated causal coherence and narrative identity awareness due to providing a motherhood-defining memory and completing the ANIQ before and after the program, but without the support of the parenting program, this increased narrative identity awareness was associated with lower maternal self-efficacy. In contrast, the mothers of the comparison group who showed greater awareness of the temporal coherence of their life story at Time 2 experienced less parental stress at Time 2. Temporal coherence refers to the extent to which life events are correctly located in time and connected into a coherent sequence across the lifespan, allowing experiences to be situated within a meaningful temporal framework (Köber et al., 2015; Köber and Habermas, 2017). Self-perceived temporal coherence may lead to a broader autobiographical perspective, relativizing and reducing temporary stress. On average, however, both groups showed similar stress levels at the end of the program.

Limitations and future directions

The lack of an association between narrative coherence of motherhood-defining memories and wellbeing is consistent with previous findings reporting inconsistent associations between narrative coherence and wellbeing (Fivush, 2025; Thomsen et al., 2026). Furthermore, the present study focused only on the narrative coherence of motherhood-defining memories in mothers with young children. Future research should examine a broader range of narrative accounts and narrative features. For example, future studies could ask participants to identify periods or several life events that represent motherhood. Covering a longer time period may show more about how women adjust and develop in this role. Naturally, the role demands of a mother change as both the mother and the child age, and motherhood-defining memories likely change along with this development. Further, measuring other narrative features, such as narrative tone, themes, or meaning making may reveal additional relations to psychological functioning and wellbeing (McLean et al., 2020).

To further delineate and understand role-defining memories, future research could also ask participants to recall memories of different or multiple roles held simultaneously (e.g., an adult can be a teacher and a mother) and examine the similarities and differences among role-defining, self-defining, and relationship-defining memories. By definition, self-defining and relationship-defining memories are frequently thought about and discussed, vividly and emotionally remembered, and reflective of life goals and personal concerns (Alea and Vick, 2010; Blagov and Singer, 2004). Role-defining memories should display similar characteristics but should additionally provide insights into how individuals identify with, enact, and negotiate social roles. Therefore, similarities and differences in role-defining, self-defining, and relationship-defining memories may manifest in content, meaning making, and memory characteristics such as normativity or perceived control (cf. Wolf and Camia, 2025), all of which we did not assess in this study.

Although we found no association between narrative coherence and wellbeing, motherhood-defining memories may be as important for psychological functioning as self-defining and relationship-defining memories (Alea et al., 2015; Alea and Vick, 2010; Booker, 2022; Çili and Stopa, 2015; Liao et al., 2018; Majzoobi and Forstmeier, 2022; Song et al., 2025). Specifically, motherhood-defining memories might point to the broader relevance of role-related memories in family contexts, where they may become part of the family narrative passed down across generations (Reese et al., 2008). As individuals participate in family, intergenerational, and couple conversations, they develop their self-concepts and identities in this narrative environment, with consequences for individuals' adjustment and wellbeing (Fivush, 2008; Fivush et al., 2011; Merrill and Fivush, 2016; Thomsen and Pillemer, 2025) as well as for families' identities and family relationship quality (Fivush, 2019; Fivush et al., 2008; Merrill et al., 2019). In a similar way, occupational role-defining narratives, alongside work life stories (Sawatzki and Thomsen, 2025; Scott, 2022), may reflect on individuals' adjustment to the work role, with implications for workplace outcomes and psychological and role functioning.

Conclusion

Drawing on research on self-defining and relationship-defining memories, we proposed the concept of motherhood-defining memories and conducted a study to investigate their relations to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning. In the context of a parenting program, we found that brief reminiscence exercises about mothers' own upbringing and motherhood experiences increased general narrative identity awareness, which in turn was positively related to psychological wellbeing and maternal self-efficacy. While we did not find narrative coherence to show such associations, these findings might still be promising for future research on role-defining memories that likely inform adjustment to role transitions in both private and professional contexts.

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Footnotes

Edited by: Dorthe Kirkegaard Thomsen, Aarhus University, Denmark

Reviewed by: Susan Bluck, University of Florida, United States

David John Hallford, Deakin University, Australia

Footnotes

To verify these results, we additionally ran regression models including study group as predictor, i.e., the same regression models across study groups. The main effects remained the same.

Statements

Conflict of interest

The author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Funding

The author(s) declared that financial support was received for this work and/or its publication. This study is based on research funded by the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (under the reference number: ECA/LOA/RFP/2022/005). The funder had no role in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Data availability

The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the narrative data are not publicly available due to privacy and ethical restrictions. The statistical data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to christin.camia@zu.ac.ae.

Ethics approval

The studies involving humans were approved by New York University Institutional Review Board (approval number HRPP-2023-99) and Abu Dhabi Department of Health (approval number DOH/CVDC/2023/1626). The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

CC: Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – original draft. AvS: Writing – review & editing, Resources, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Conceptualization, Supervision, Data curation. MK: Supervision, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing, Investigation, Data curation, Software, Project administration, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Methodology.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the team from the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority for their contribution to and support of the development of the parenting program. We also wish to acknowledge and thank all the facilitators who delivered the parenting program sessions, and all mothers who participated in this study. Finally, we thank Mariam Alsabbagh and Mariam S. Alwahedi for their help with data coding.

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Citation

Camia, C., et al. (2026). Motherhood-defining memories and narrative identity awareness in relation to psychological wellbeing and maternal functioning following a parenting program. Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, Volume 4. https://doi.org/
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4 - 2026

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Copyright © 2026 Camia, von Suchodoletz and Kelly.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

*Correspondence: Christin Camia

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