Autobiographical memory specificity and affect regulation: coping with a negative life event

Abstract

Two decades of research have shown that depressed patients experience significant difficulties retrieving specific autobiographical memories. Importantly, reduced autobiographical memory (AM) specificity is a known vulnerability factor for depression and is predictive of a more chronic course. One of the models that has been put forward to explain the origin of this reduced specificity is the affect-regulation model, which assumes that being less specific might help to prevent negative or painful emotions by recalling events in a less specific way. This avoidant memory style might have beneficial effects in the short run (less emotional impact of stressful events) but is detrimental in the long run. The affect-regulation model, and more in particular the beneficial short-term effect of reduced memory specificity, was investigated in a prospective study. Students were followed over a period of 9 weeks after they failed at their first exams at university. In line with the affect-regulation model, memory specificity predicted the course of symptoms that were experienced as a result of failing these exams. The less specific the student, the less durable the emotional distress over this 9-week period. The correlational nature of this study limits to some extent the conclusions that can be drawn. The results offer support for the affect-regulation account of reduced autobiographical memory specificity.

Emotion and Autobiographical Memory

“…Buna göre, travma veya şiddetli stres mağdurları olumsuz yaşantılarını geri getirmeye başladıklarında otobiyografik hatırlama genel tanımdayken tarama erkenden kesilir. [48] Aynı etki depresif ve intihara eğili-mi olan hastalarda da gözlenir. Bu budanma, zamanla anıların ayrıntılı hatır-lanmasını engeller ve aşırı genel hatırlamaya sebep olur.…”

“…Bu budanma, zamanla anıların ayrıntılı hatır-lanmasını engeller ve aşırı genel hatırlamaya sebep olur. [48] Kısa vadede sıkın-tıdan kurtulmayı sağlayan bu kaçınma, uzun vadede sorunlara yol açtığı için işlevsel kaçınma (functional avoidance) olarak adlandırılır. [8] Aşırı genelleş-tirme başlangıçta bir kaçış stratejisi iken, bazı bireyler için gittikçe daha yaygın kullanılan genel baş etme tarzı haline gelebilir.…”

“…Depresyon ve travma sonrası stres bozukluğu yaşayan kişiler bu bilişsel sürece daha yatkın görünmektedir. [48] Travma geçmişi, sadece duygu ilişkili olaya özgül bilgiye değil, travmayla ilgili rahatsız edici anıların ulaşılabilirliğini de azaltır. Williams ve arkadaşları yapılan araştırma-larda duygudurum bozukluğu olan bireylerde CaR-FA-X modelinin üç bileşenin de etkili olduğunu bildirmişlerdir.…”

Overgeneral Memory in Binge Eating Disorder is Linked to Binge Frequency

“…First of all, one of the coping styles closely related to binge eating is avoidance (Paxton & Diggens, 1997;Schwarze, Oliver, & Handal, 2003;Sierra Baigrie & Lemos Giraldez, 2008). Retrieving memories in a less specific way, in turn, can also be considered as a passive avoidance strategy (Hermans et al, 2008). Specific memories primarily involve sensory-perceptual information and may thus produce increases in mood disturbance (Williams et al, 2007).…”

'He said he loved me. I wanted to be loved': Young women's experiences of coping with violence in intimate relationships.

“…The relationship between trauma and memory has been extensively researched and authors have argued for and against the concepts of false memory syndrome, the specialness of traumatic memory due to the roles of Cortisol and the hippocampus, recovered memory, and the emotional suppression of memory (see Bremner &Marmar, 1998, andLynn &McConkey, 1998, for a more detailed discussion of trauma and memory). Hermans et al (2008) stated regulating affect by not remembering details is only effective in the short-term and leads to negative long-term consequences. The young women in the present study did not describe any negative long-term consequences other than telling me they were sorry they could not remember all the details to help me with my research; they may or may not have negative long-term consequences -this aspect was beyond the focus of this study.…”