Metacognitive appraisal of memory inconsistency for traumatic events in Dutch veterans

Engelhard, Iris M.; McNally, Richard J.

doi:10.1080/09658211.2014.942669

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…First, the underlying mechanism(s) we have proposed for our results are speculative. Future research possibilities include asking participants why their reports changed over time (see Engelhard and McNally, 2015), although not all participants may have insight. Second, it is difficult to know how accurately participants were able to localize their retrospective self-report to 6 months before, a potential issue across many retrospective recall paradigms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current PTSD symptomatology distorts memory for past symptoms

Nahleen

Nixon

Takarangi

2019

Psychiatry Research

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Clinicians often rely on clients' retrospective reports of past symptoms to diagnose and treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, there is limited research investigating memory for past PTSD symptoms. We asked sexual assault survivors to report their PTSD symptoms and then recall them 6 months later. Overall, symptom recall was consistent with initial reports. However, after dividing participants into PTSD-positive and negative groups, we found that people who were PTSD-negative at follow-up underestimated past PTSD symptom severity while people who were PTSD-positive overestimated past symptoms. For example, 2.8% of PTSD-negative participants versus 15.9% of PTSD-positive participants recalled experiencing 20+ more points on the PCL-5 at follow-up than at initial assessment. Further, people who adjusted over time greatly underestimated past symptoms unlike those who remained PTSD-positive. Our findings have important theoretical and clinical implications because they show that current symptom severity may influence the memory reconstruction of prior levels of adjustment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current PTSD symptomatology distorts memory for past symptoms

Nahleen

Nixon

Takarangi

2019

Psychiatry Research

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“…As argued by Candel and Merckelbach (2004), this is problematic because people in general, and patients with PTSD in particular, find it difficult to give accurate descriptions of past emotional states. Moreover, reports of memory for traumatic events often change over time (Engelhard, van den Hout, & McNally, 2008) because individuals may interpret memories differently over time (Engelhard & McNally, 2015; see also Lommen, van de Schoot, & Engelhard, 2014). Experimental analogues are therefore warranted (James et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A virtual reality paradigm as an analogue to real-life trauma: its effectiveness compared with the trauma film paradigm

Cuperus

Klaassen

Hagenaars

et al. 2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: The trauma film paradigm (TFP) is a well-established method to study the effects of analogue psychological trauma under controlled laboratory settings. It has been used to examine pre-, peri-, and post-trauma processes, and to create and test interventions. A possible drawback is that watching films is a somewhat passive endeavour that lacks active behavioural engagement. Virtual reality (VR) may provide a better alternative. Like the TFP, VR allows for experimental control. In addition, it can induce a greater 'feeling of presence' and allows interaction with the environment, enabling research on action-reaction associations. Objective: We aimed to validate the utility of a VR paradigm as an experimental model to study psychological trauma by comparing its effectiveness with the TFP. Method: One group of participants (N = 25) was shown an aversive film, and another group (N = 25) moved through a VR scene. Main outcome measures were intrusion frequency assessed with a 7-day diary and self-rated vividness and emotionality of recalled memories related to the film or VR scene. Results:The results indicate that the film and VR scene were equally effective in inducing vivid and intrusive memories. However, self-reported emotional intensity appeared to be higher for memories related to the film than for memories related to the VR scene. Conclusions: Perhaps the film was more effective in inducing emotional memories than the VR scene due to its more aversive content. However, the VR scene seemed equally effective in inducing vivid and intrusive memories, and merits further exploration in light of ethical considerations (less aversive content) and other presumably beneficial qualities (e.g. inducing a greater feeling of presence and allowing interaction with the environment).

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“…Indeed, misremembering negative photos over time is associated with worse outcomes (Oulton, Takarangi, & Strange, 2016). However, discrepancies could also represent changes in how people interpret unaltered memories (Engelhard & McNally, 2015); participants might reinterpret the sight of blood as "seeing human remains," a shift in response bias. The typical test format to assess trauma exposure-sometimes vague event descriptions that might be considered subjective (e.g., "witnessing violence"; Engelhard et al, 2008)-may be especially vulnerable to reinterpretation.…”

Section: Empirical Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critically, however, our memory test format differed from the field research, which has typically administered checklists: Participants read verbal descriptions of specific stressors (e.g., “seeing others killed or wounded” and “death of a close friend”; Southwick et al, 1997) and indicate (yes/no) whether they have previously been exposed (e.g., Giosan et al, 2009) and/or the extent of exposure on Likert-type scales (e.g., Roemer et al, 1998). When shown response discrepancies, participants typically explain that they interpreted items—or keywords on the checklist—differently the second time (Engelhard & McNally, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Memory Amplification: Is It All About the Test Format?

Takarangi

Oulton

Strange

2017

Clinical Psychological Science

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Trauma-exposed people commonly exhibit a "memory amplification" effect, endorsing exposure to more traumatic events over time. Studies reporting this phenomenon have typically relied on checklists, where participants read event descriptions and indicate (yes/no) their exposure. We examined whether that approach is vulnerable to response biases and memory errors. In two experiments, participants viewed negative photos and completed an Old-New recognition test. In Experiment 1, participants completed either a photo recognition test or description test-composed of written descriptions of negative photos. In Experiment 2, we measured analogue PTSD symptoms and participants completed the description test twice, 24 hr apart. Those in the description test condition performed worse on the memory test and were more biased to endorse negative photos compared with the photo test condition. Furthermore, this bias to endorse negative photos increased over time and was related to analogue PTSD symptoms. Overall, our findings suggest that test format plays a role in memory amplification.

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Metacognitive appraisal of memory inconsistency for traumatic events in Dutch veterans

Cited by 15 publications

References 27 publications

Current PTSD symptomatology distorts memory for past symptoms

Current PTSD symptomatology distorts memory for past symptoms

A virtual reality paradigm as an analogue to real-life trauma: its effectiveness compared with the trauma film paradigm

Explaining Memory Amplification: Is It All About the Test Format?

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