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Presentation of the Coding and Assessment System for Narratives of Trauma (CASNOT): Application in Spanish Battered Women and Preliminary Analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2017

Violeta Fernández-Lansac  and
María Crespo
Violeta Fernández-Lansac
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
María Crespo*
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to María Crespo. Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Clinical Psychology. Campus de Somosaguas, s/n. 28223. Madrid (Spain). E-mail: mcrespo@psi.ucm.es
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Abstract

This study introduces a new coding system, the Coding and Assessment System for Narratives of Trauma (CASNOT), to analyse several language domains in narratives of autobiographical memories, especially in trauma narratives. The development of the coding system is described. It was applied to assess positive and traumatic/negative narratives in 50 battered women (trauma-exposed group) and 50 nontrauma-exposed women (control group). Three blind raters coded each narrative. Inter-rater reliability analyses were conducted for the CASNOT language categories (multirater Kfree coefficients) and dimensions (intraclass correlation coefficients). High levels of inter-rater agreement were found for most of the language domains. Categories that did not reach the expected reliability were mainly those related to cognitive processes, which reflects difficulties in operationalizing constructs such as lack of control or helplessness, control or planning, and rationalization or memory elaboration. Applications and limitations of the CASNOT are discussed to enhance narrative measures for autobiographical memories.

Keywords

autobiographical memorycoding systemjudge-based thematic content analyseslanguage domaintraumatic narrative
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 20 , 2017 , E33
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2017 

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Footnotes

Universidad Complutense de Madrid Predoctoral Scholarship granted to Violeta Fernández-Lansac. Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad PSI2012–31952.

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