Maternal reminiscing and preschoolers' (M = 5.00 years, SD = 1.11) autobiographical memory specificity (AMS) were examined among abusive (n = 24), neglecting (n =78), emotionally maltreating (n = 32), and demographically similar nonmaltreating families (n = 74). Neglect was negatively associated with child AMS and the quantity of maternal elaborations. In a moderated mediation model, neglect was negatively associated with the quantity of maternal elaborations, which was positively associated with AMS when mothers reminisced in a coherent and sensitive manner (i.e., affective quality). In the context of high maternal affective quality, maternal elaborative quantity accounted for reduced AMS among neglected preschoolers. The findings extend observations of reduced AMS to neglected preschoolers and inform theoretical models of autobiographical memory development. Autobiographical memory is a type of explicit memory that is specialized for encoding, storing, and retrieving self-relevant personally experienced events that make up one's life story (Nelson & Fivush, 2004). Autobiographical memories reflect unique experiences that occurred at a specific location and during a specific time in one's past. However, some individuals have difficulty retrieving specific autobiographical memories and instead recount reoccurring events or experiences that took place over an extended period of time, a phenomenon known as overgeneral memory (OGM). The degree to which individuals recount specific (e.g., "I was mad yesterday when…") or overgeneral memories (e.g., "Last summer, I…") is of clinical significance because OGM is observed among individuals with psychopathology, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression (Hitchcock, Nixon, & Weber, 2014; Williams et al., 2007 for reviews). In addition, individuals with histories of childhood abuse have been observed to have elevated levels of OGM independent of current psychopathology (Henderson, Hargreaves, Gregory, & Williams, 2002; Ogle et al., 2013; Valentino, Bridgett, Hayden, & Nuttall, 2012). Therefore, the development and maintenance of OGM, or reduced autobiographical memory specificity (AMS), may be a critical component of the cognitive and psychological sequelae of child maltreatment. According to the self-memory model, autobiographical memories are retrieved in a topdown fashion following a hierarchy from general to specific memories (Conway & Pleydell

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The manner in which mothers engage in emotional discussion, or reminisce, with their young children about past emotional experiences poses important ramifications for child socioemotional and cognitive development. Maltreating mothers may have difficulty engaging in emotionally supportive reminiscing. The current study examined the role of maternal sensitive guidance during reminiscing as a process variable that may explain associations between child maltreatment and three child self-regulatory dimensions: lability/negativity, emotion regulation, and inhibitory control. Participants included 111 maltreating and 65 demographically matched, non-maltreating mothers and their 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 176). The dyads participated in a joint reminiscing task about four past, emotional shared experiences. Mothers reported on their children’s emotion regulation and lability/negativity while children participated in a behavioral assessment of inhibitory control. Results indicated that maltreating mothers engaged in less sensitive guidance when reminiscing compared to non-maltreating mothers. In the main analysis, maternal sensitive guidance mediated relations between maltreatment and child emotion regulation and inhibitory control, respectively, but not lability/negativity.