The Best and Worst Times of Life Narratives and A

Authors: Valerie Møller Peter Theuns Ida Erstad Jan Bernheim

Publish Date: 2007/12/04

Volume: 89, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-22

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Abstract

The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment ACSA measure of subjective wellbeing SWB aims to reduce the problems of cultural bias and relativity to external standards by allowing people to define the endpoints or ‘anchors’ of the measurement scale In medical terminology anamnestic denotes ‘based on memory’ The ACSA uses subjects’ memories of the best and worst periods in their lives to define the anchors of the scale They then assess their current quality of life relative to these personal anchors The South African pilot study tested the match between selfassessment of SWB with ACSA and the conventional singleitem measures of life satisfaction and happiness used in the South African Quality of Life Trends Study and analysed the narratives of the best and worst times of life The quota sample of 46 consisted of 26 residents of Makana district in the Eastern Cape Province South Africa and 20 patients undergoing treatment in the local TB hospital Mean SWB ratings with all three measures of life satisfaction happiness and ACSA were between 5 and 6 on a 0–10point scale Ratings on all three scales were positively correlated However on ACSA the TB patients rated their current SWB 184 points lower than the community respondents suggesting a greater sensitivity of this measure It was observed that the starting points of the life stories produced by respondents to define the anchor periods for ACSA were related to their current assessment of SWB A typology was developed that combined the starting point of the life stories with current SWB The majority of community respondents matched the ‘Achiever’ type who scored positively on ACSA ie above the midpoint of the scale and whose life stories started with the worst period of their lives and proceeded to the best period The TB patients were the only respondents to represent the ‘Survivor’ type whose morale had recovered after misfortune in life ‘Survivors’ started their narratives with the best period in their lives then moved to the worst often healthrelated one and gave positive ACSA ratings Based on the qualitative analysis of narratives it is concluded that ACSA is a sensitive measurement instrument and therefore particularly useful for monitoring the effects of treatments and social interventions in longitudinal studies However further research is required to verify its crosscultural validityThe research reported here was financially supported by grant ZEIN2005ZVV48 from the Vlaamse Interuniversitaire RaadUniversitaire Ontwikkelingssamenwerking VLIRUOS Views are those expressed by the authors and should not be attributed to the sponsors The authors thank Nomtunsi Api and Zizo Siwendu for assistance with fieldwork and Professor Sarah Radloff for assistance with statistics They gratefully acknowledge the hospitality of the SANTA Temba TB hospital in Grahamstown East/Rhini

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