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Internal state language and resolution strategies in preschoolers’ narratives about sad experiences

ABSTRACT The present study explored preschoolers’ internal state language and resolution strategies in sad stories that shifted to a positive emotional tone. Fifty-four 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds attending a laboratory preschool shared stories about ‘a time when you were happy/sad.’ Stories were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded for internal state language, emotional tone shift, and resolutions. Consistent with past work, children reported more internal states in sad (v. happy) stories. Children who shifted their sad stories to a positive emotional tone compared to those whose stories remained sad included more emotion talk and cognitive states, and used a variety of resolution strategies. Descriptive analysis suggested that the distribution of strategies differed by age of the child, with 5-year-olds utilising more strategies, and strategies more cognitively complex compared to younger children. Findings provide new insight into the ways preschoolers make meaning out of and resolve sad experiences through personal narratives.