Putting CNSM Theory to the Test: Linking Interactional Sense-Making and Well-Being in the Context of Joint Family Storytelling in a Midwestern U.S. Sample

Communicated narrative sense-making theory (CNSM) highlights the links between storytelling and health, emotions, perceptions, and behavior. The current study, situated in CNSM’s interactional storytelling heuristic, tested proposition 4, which posits that interactional sense-making (ISM) positively predicts dimensions of psychosocial and relational functioning. We analyzed video-recorded storytelling interactions of 31 families using the ISM observational rating system to identify links between ISM and individual, relational, and interactional well-being. Multi-level modeling indicated significant, but varying, patterns of relationships between ISM and outcome variables, such that coherence predicted mental health and self-esteem, whereas CPT was the most consistent predictor of participants’ feelings about the family interaction.