Abstract
BackgroundOvergeneral autobiographical memory has repeatedly been identified as a risk factor for adolescent and adult psychopathology but the factors that cause such over-generality remain unclear. This study examined the association between childhood exposure to traumatic events and early adolescent overgeneral autobiographical memory in a large population sample. MethodsThirteen-year-olds, n = 5,792, participating in an ongoing longitudinal cohort study (ALSPAC) completed a written version of the Autobiographical Memory Test. Performance on this task was examined in relation to experience of traumatic events, using data recorded by caregivers close to the time of exposure. ResultsResults indicated that experiencing a severe event in middle childhood increased the likelihood of an adolescent falling into the lowest quartile for autobiographical memory specificity (retrieving 0 or 1 specific memory) at age 13 by approximately 60%. The association persisted after controlling for a range of potential socio-demographic confounders. LimitationsData on the traumatic event exposures was limited by the relatively restricted range of traumas examined, and the lack of contextual details surrounding both the traumatic event exposures themselves and the severity of children's post-traumatic stress reactions. ConclusionsThis is the largest study to date of the association between childhood trauma exposure and overgeneral autobiographical memory in adolescence. Findings suggest a modest association between exposure to traumatic events and later overgeneral autobiographical memory, a psychological variable that has been linked to vulnerability to clinical depression.
Highlights
Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) refers to the tendency to retrieve memories of events from the personal past in a generalised way, with a lack of the event-specific details
OGM is typically assessed using the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT, Williams & Broadbent, 1986), a task derived from Crovitz and Schiffman (1974) in which participants are given cue words and asked to retrieve a memory of a specific event: an event which occurred on one particular day, at a particular time and place, in response to each
The current results provide a very conservative test of the association between trauma exposure and OGM, and in the light of this it is striking that a 60% increase in likelihood of OGM in those exposed to severe traumatic events in middle childhood was observed
Summary
Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) refers to the tendency to retrieve memories of events from the personal past in a generalised way, with a lack of the event-specific details. OGM has been observed in adolescents with current major depression (Kuyken, Howell, & Dalgleish, 2006; Park, Goodyer, & Teasdale, 2002) or at high risk (Kuyken & Dalgleish, 2011) and been shown to predict depression onset in such samples (Hipwell, Sapotichne, Klostermann, Battista, & Keenan, 2011; Rawal & Rice, 2012) These findings have together led to considerable interest in the factors that may underlie the development of OGM, and its potential causal role both in determining initial onsets of depression and suicidality, and in maintaining or exacerbating existing mood disorders. Methods: Thirteen-year-olds, n 1⁄4 5,792, participating in an ongoing longitudinal cohort study (ALSPAC) completed a written version of the Autobiographical Memory Test Performance on this task was examined in relation to experience of traumatic events, using data recorded by caregivers close to the time of exposure. Findings suggest a modest association between exposure to traumatic events and later overgeneral autobiographical memory, a psychological variable that has been linked to vulnerability to clinical depression
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