Autobiographical memory specificity among people with recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse

Raymaekers, Linsey; Smeets, Tom; Peters, Maarten J.V.

doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.03.004

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…There were 17 studies that compared depressive symptoms between trauma‐exposed and nonexposed people. Five studies used the Beck Depression Inventory, Version I (BDI; Hauer et al., ; McNally et al., ; Moradi, Abdi, Fathi‐Ashtiani, Dalgleish, & Jobson, ; Raymaekers, Smeets, Peters, & Merckelbach, ; Stokes, Dritschel, & Bekerian, ) and five used Version II (BDI‐II; Abdollahi, Moradi, Hasani, & Jobson, ; Brennen et al., ; Kuyken, Howell, & Dalgleish, ; Moradi et al., ; Mowlds et al., ). Each of the following measures were used once: The depression subscales of the Profile of Mood States (POMS; Henderson & Hargreaves, ), the Karolinska Affective and Borderline Symptoms Scale (KABOSS; Maurex et al., ), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS; Ono & Devilly, ), Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS; Nilsson‐Ihrfelt et al., ), The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Nixon et al., ), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS; Wittekind et al., ) and the Birleson Depression Scale (BDS; Stokes et al., ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There was also no difference in the average percentage of female participants in the exposed ( M = 69.0%, SD = 31.3%) and nonexposed samples ( M = 67.8%, SD = 30.8%), t (45) = −0.13, p = .894. Overall, of the 33 effect sizes we calculated, 9 came from studies that involved sexual abuse (Hauer et al., ; Henderson & Hargreaves, ; Kuyken et al., ; McNally et al., ; Raymaekers et al., ; Stokes et al., ), 1 came from a study that involved an accident (Willebrand et al., ), 5 from studies that involved exposure to physical illness (e.g., cancer; Abdollahi et al., ; Moradi et al., ; Nilsson‐Ihrfelt et al., ; Stokes et al., ), 6 from studies that involved exposure to war (Brennen et al., ; Moradi et al., ; Neshat Doost et al., ; Wittekind et al., ), and 11 from studies that involved mixed samples (Huntjens, Wessel, Hermans, & van Minnen, ; Maurex et al., ; Mowlds et al., ; Nixon et al., ; Ono & Devilly, ; Raes, Hermans, Williams, & Eelen, ; Stokes et al., ). Additionally, 8 of 33 effect sizes calculated involved traumas experienced in adulthood (Abdollahi et al., ; Moradi et al., , ; Nilsson‐Ihrfelt et al., ; Ono & Devilly, ; Willebrand et al., ), 4 did not report the age at trauma exposure (Kuyken et al., ; Maurex et al., ; Mowlds et al., ; Raes et al., ), and all other effect sizes involved childhood traumas.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meta‐Analysis of the Association Between Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Exposure to Trauma

Barry

Lenaert

Hermans

et al. 2018

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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Cognitive models of emotional disorders suggest that reduced autobiographical memory specificity that results from exposure to traumatic events may play an important role in the aetiology and maintenance of these disorders. However, there has yet to be a comprehensive meta-analysis of the association between trauma exposure and memory specificity, and the role of posttraumatic stress symptoms on this association. We searched PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases and extracted data from studies regarding the mean number or proportion of specific memories that participants with and without trauma exposure recalled on the Autobiographical Memory Test. We also extracted data on differences between groups in terms of posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms, along with data on trauma timing and participants' ages at the time of assessment. The effect size of memory specificity between participants with and without exposure to trauma was large, d = 0.77, and differed significantly from zero, p < .001. In metaregression, trauma timing was a significant predictor of the heterogeneity in trauma-exposure specificity effect sizes, but posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms were not. Compromised memory specificity represents an important cognitive consequence of trauma exposure that might have an important influence on risk for, and maintenance of, subsequent emotional pathologies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meta‐Analysis of the Association Between Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Exposure to Trauma

Barry

Lenaert

Hermans

et al. 2018

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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“…There is, however, a lack of consistent support for associations between particular types of trauma and OGM. A number of investigations have focused on the relationship between childhood sexual abuse in particular and OGM (e.g., McNally et al, 2006; Raymaekers, Smeets, Peters, & Merckelbach, 2010; Sinclair, Crane, Hawton, & Williams, 2007), but not all studies have found an association with higher levels of OGM (e.g., Johnson, Greenhoot, Glisky, & McCloskey, 2005). Inconsistencies across studies regarding the type of trauma and OGM are likely to be due, at least in part, to low statistical power given that the sample sizes for different types of trauma (e.g., sexual abuse, emotional abuse) tend to be small.…”

Section: Mechanism 2: Functional Avoidancementioning

confidence: 99%

The mechanisms underlying overgeneral autobiographical memory: An evaluative review of evidence for the CaR-FA-X model

Sumner

2012

Clinical Psychology Review

195

192

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Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) has been found to be an important cognitive phenomenon with respect to depression and trauma-related psychopathology (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder), and researchers have been interested in better understanding the factors that contribute to this proposed vulnerability factor. The most prominent model of mechanisms underlying OGM to date is Williams et al.’s (2007) CaR-FA-X model. This model proposes that three processes influence OGM: capture and rumination, functional avoidance, and impaired executive control. The author reviews the current state of support for the CaR-FA-X model by evaluating 38 studies that have examined OGM and one or more mechanisms of the model. Collectively, these studies reveal robust support for associations between OGM and both rumination and impaired executive control. OGM also appears to be a cognitive avoidance strategy, and there is evidence that avoiding the retrieval of specific memories reduces distress after an aversive event, at least in the short term. Important issues that have been left unresolved are highlighted, including the nature of the capture phenomenon, the role of trauma in functional avoidance, and the developmental nature of functional avoidance. Recommendations for future research that will enhance understanding of the factors that contribute to OGM are suggested.

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“…Williams (1996) proposed that rAMS results from a protective mechanism or affect-regulation strategy aimed at avoiding unpleasant and intrusive memories associated with adverse childhood events (Hermans, Defranc, Raes, Williams, & Eelen, 2005). Given lingering negative emotions often experienced by child sexual abuse (CSA) victims, CSA is likely to lead to the use of defensively motivated overly general memory strategies (e.g., McNally et al, 2006;Raymaekers, Smeets, Peters, & Merckelbach, 2010;Sinclair, Crane, Hawton, & Williams, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

Coping style and memory specificity in adolescents and adults with histories of child sexual abuse

Harris

Block

Ogle

et al. 2015

Memory

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Individuals with histories of childhood trauma may adopt a nonspecific memory retrieval strategy to avoid unpleasant and intrusive memories. In a sample of 93 adolescents and adults with or without histories of child sexual abuse (CSA), we tested the hypothesis that nonspecific memory retrieval is related to an individual's general tendency to use avoidant (i.e., distancing) coping as a personal problem-solving or coping strategy, especially in victims of CSA. We also examined age differences and other individual differences (e.g., trauma-related psychopathology) as predictors of nonspecific memories. Distancing coping was significantly associated with less specific autobiographical memory. Younger age, lower vocabulary scores, and non-CSA childhood maltreatment (i.e., physical and emotional abuse) also uniquely predicted less autobiographical memory specificity, whereas trauma-related psychopathology was associated with more specific memory. Implications for the development of autobiographical memory retrieval in the context of coping with childhood maltreatment are discussed.

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Autobiographical memory specificity among people with recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse

Cited by 11 publications

References 52 publications

Meta‐Analysis of the Association Between Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Exposure to Trauma

Meta‐Analysis of the Association Between Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Exposure to Trauma

The mechanisms underlying overgeneral autobiographical memory: An evaluative review of evidence for the CaR-FA-X model

Coping style and memory specificity in adolescents and adults with histories of child sexual abuse

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