The tendency to recall events from one's past in a non-specific and overgeneral way has been found to predict the onset and severity of a range of emotional disorders. Memory Specificity Training (MeST) was devised a decade ago in order to target and modify this tendency so as to reduce the symptoms of emotional disorder or to reduce the risk that such disorders might emerge over time. We present a meta-analytical review of research into the effects of MeST on autobiographical memory specificity in the context of emotional disorders (k = 12). MeST was associated with substantial improvement in memory specificity (d = -1.21) and depressive symptoms (d = 0.47) and MeST groups outperformed control groups at postintervention in terms of specificity (d = 1.08) and depressive symptoms (d = -.29). However, these effects were transitory and the benefit of MeST over control groups was mostly lost by follow-up assessment. There was mixed evidence in terms of MeST's effects on other processes associated with reduced specificity but MeST showed most promise in improving problem solving abilities and hopelessness. MeST holds promise as a novel intervention targeting reduced specificity but future studies are warranted with control groups that enable the investigation of MeST's mechanism of action and in studies with larger and more varied samples.

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Developmental science perspectives consider how exposure to early adversity undermines the normative development of self-regulatory processes in ways that compromise both short-and long-term health (Boyce & Ellis, 2005; O'Connor, 2003; Rudolph, Lansford, et al., 2016). Exposure to peer victimization (acts of physical, verbal, and psychological aggression) represents a particularly pernicious form of adversity. Not only is peer victimization common (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Wardrop, 2001), it forecasts a wide range of mental and physical health difficulties across the lifespan (McDougall & Vaillancourt, 2015). Given these pervasive and enduring effects, it is critical to understand processes through which victimization compromises development. Moreover, in line with differential susceptibility models of development (Boyce & Ellis, 2005; Ellis et al., 2011), it is important to determine which

Some scholars have proposed that people in couples in which at least one person is secure are just as satisfied as people in which both members are secure (i.e., buffering hypothesis). The present investigation tested this hypothesis by examining how relationship satisfaction varies as a function of the attachment security of both dyad members. Secondary analyses were performed using data from two studies (Study 1: 172 couples; Study 2: 194 couples) in which heterosexual dating couples were asked to complete self-reports of their own attachment style and relationship satisfaction. To evaluate the buffering hypothesis, we fit a standard APIM using SEM and added an actor × partner interaction term to our model. Contrary to expectations, our results suggested that secure partners do not “buffer” insecurely attached individuals. Moreover, partner attachment did not explain satisfaction much above and beyond actor effects. This work addresses a gap in the literature with respect to the dynamic interplay of partner pairing, allowing scholars to better understand attachment processes in romantic relationships.

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