The association between metamemory, subjective memory complaints, mood, and well-being: the Hungarian validation of Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire

Abstract

The current study addressed the relationship between subjective memory complaints and negative affect, well-being, and demographic variables by investigating the Hungarian version of Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire. The original factor structure showed a poor fit on our data; therefore, principal component analysis was conducted on data from 577 participants, ranging in age from 18 to 92 years. Our analysis provided a six-component solution: Satisfaction, Retrospective memory mistakes, Prospective memory mistakes, External Strategies, Internal Strategies, and Frustration. To improve the reliability and internal consistency indicators we created four subscales by combining Frustration with Satisfaction, and Retrospective and Prospective memory mistakes subscales. Thus, we were able to preserve the factor structure similar to the original. Subjective memory complaints were correlated positively with anxiety and depression and were associated negatively with well-being. We found a slight positive correlation between age and memory ability, and age was associated negatively with the frequency of external strategy use. Individuals with higher education were satisfied with their memory, used more frequent external strategies. Furthermore, men were more satisfied with their memory and reported better memory ability, while women tended to use more external and internal strategies. Women also showed a higher level of anxiety and depression than men. In conclusion, self-reported memory changes are of particular importance because of their association with perceived mental health status and implications for later disease development.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and metamemory across the lifespan—Psychometric properties of the German Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (MMQ)

“…Although the MMQ scales Satisfaction and Ability are strongly associated, they give clinicians and researchers the opportunity to evaluate different aspects of metamemory by assessing the affective appraisal of memory vs. self-rated frequency of memory mistakes. The finding that a higher score on the Strategy scale, i.e., a greater use of memory strategies, is associated with lower scores on Ability and Satisfaction, i.e., less selfrated ability and memory satisfaction, is in line with findings from translations to other languages (Csábi et al, 2023;van der Werf & Vos, 2011). This finding indicates that people who experience less memory satisfaction and who report more memory mistakes are more likely to use memory strategies.…”

“…While Zapater-Fajarí et al (2022) found an association of anxiety with more memory complaints, Pearman (2009) only found self-rated health and not depressiveness to be predictive of memory complaints. This is supported by findings indicating that memory satisfaction and self-rated ability is associated with general physical and mental well-being in young and middle-aged adults (Csábi et al, 2023) and quality of life in older adults (Maki et al, 2014). Sleep duration is another neuropsychiatric symptom differentially affecting memory across the lifespan, where inverted U-shape associations with cognitive performance have been found in young (Grumbach et al, 2020) and middle-aged adults (van Oostrom et al, 2018).…”

“…Mnemonic techniques are frequently applied by high-performing individuals and trained in cognitive interventions (Kinsella et al, 2016;Maurer-Karattup et al, 2022;Sherman et al, 2017). However, it is also consistently found that increased use of memory strategies is associated with more memory complaints (Csábi et al, 2023;Karr, 2022;van der Werf & Vos, 2011). This highlights the potential confounding effect of strategy items in unifactorial questionnaires.…”

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and metamemory across the life span: psychometric properties of the German Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (MMQ)

“…Lastly, mnemonic strategies have a complex relationship to subjective memory ability and satisfaction. While they are frequently applied by high-performing individuals and trained in cognitive interventions [ 26 – 28 ], an increased use of everyday memory strategies is consistently associated with more memory complaints [ 29 – 31 ]. This highlights the potential confounding effect of strategy items in unifactorial questionnaires.…”

“…Additionally, they can function as a standardized assessment of self-efficacy and compensatory mechanisms. However, since depressiveness, anxiety, physical and mental health, and sleep differentially affect memory across the life span [ 29 , 32 , 33 ], neuropsychiatric symptoms need to be considered when evaluating metamemory.…”