Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

In this prospective longitudinal study, the authors examined the relationship between reduced specificity in autobiographical memory retrieval and the development of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and specific phobia after injury in an assault. Assault survivors (N = 203) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986) at 2 weeks after the trauma as well as structured clinical interviews at 2 weeks and 6 months. Participants with acute stress disorder or major depression at 2 weeks, but not those with phobia, retrieved fewer specific autobiographical memories than those without the respective disorder. Reduced memory specificity at 2 weeks also predicted subsequent PTSD and major depression at 6 months over and above what could be predicted from initial diagnoses and symptom severity. Moderator analyses showed that low memory specificity predicted later depression in participants with prior episodes of major depression but not in those without prior depression. Mediation analyses suggested that rumination partly mediated and perceived permanent change fully mediated the effects of low memory specificity on posttrauma psychopathology at follow-up.

Original publication

DOI

10.1037/0022-006X.76.2.231

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Consult Clin Psychol

Publication Date

04/2008

Volume

76

Pages

231 - 242

Keywords

Adult, Attention, Child, Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Sexual, Crime Victims, Defense Mechanisms, Depressive Disorder, Major, Female, Generalization (Psychology), Humans, Life Change Events, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mental Recall, Middle Aged, Phobic Disorders, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Sex Offenses, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Thinking, Violence, Wounds and Injuries