Adult memory for instances of emotionally stressful and non-stressful repeated events

Abstract

ABSTRACT Repeated offences, such as domestic violence, are often distressing for victims. When victims of such offences make an allegation of abuse, they are usually required to report details about specific incidents. Therefore, this pre-registered study examined whether memory for an emotionally stressful versus non-stressful repeated event would differ depending on the instance being recalled. Eighty female participants (Mage = 22.3, SD = 7.4) imagined being involved in four abusive (emotionally stressful repeated event) or non-abusive relationship instances (non-stressful repeated event) over a four-week period. One-week after the last instance, participants completed recall and source memory questions about each instance. We found no evidence that memory for stressful versus non-stressful repeated events differed depending on the instance being recalled. Instead, we found that memory was more accurate for the last instance relative to the other instances (i.e., recency effect), regardless of event stressfulness. We also found that memory accuracy was better across all instances in the stressful than the non-stressful group. The findings suggest that victim-survivors of abuse might find the last instance of abuse particularly memorable when the delay between the offence and report is one-week or less, and the stressfulness of the instance might help them recall more details.