This study presents evidence of convergent validity for the Narrative Completion Test (NCT), a new story completion task for adults. A sample of 263 college students completed the NCT and a battery of self-report instruments measuring current mood, quality of life satisfaction, psychiatric history, family demographics, life events, and early memories. NCT story completions were coded for clinical features (Depression, Anxiety, Malevolence, Impulsivity, and Abandonment) and adaptive features (Happiness, Affiliation, and Empathy). NCT scores on malevolence and depression correlated positively with self-report depression, low satisfaction with self, and low quality of life satisfaction. NCT Happiness scores correlated negatively with self-report depression. The NCT clinical scores were also sensitive to negative early life events and negative early memories of maternal caregivers, findings demonstrating the impact of early experience on the creative process.
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