Autobiographical Memory Test Research Articles

Moderating role of overgeneral autobiographical memory in the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and state anxiety

<sec><strong>Background:</strong> Though previous studies have investigated the roles of dysfunctional attitudes and overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) in depression, a few have focused on the relationships among dysfunctional attitudes, OGM, and anxiety. Moreover, the moderating role of OGM has received limited scholarly attention. </sec><sec><strong>Aims:</strong> This study investigated the relationships among dysfunctional attitudes, OGM, and anxiety, as well as the moderating role of OGM in the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and state anxiety, in a sample of college students. </sec><sec><strong>Method:</strong> The sample consisted of 209 nonclinical college students aged between 17 and 23 years (mean age = 19.61 years; females: 76%). The study assessed dysfunctional attitudes and state anxiety using self-report questionnaires, and evaluated OGM using the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). </sec><sec><strong>Results:</strong> The results indicate that dysfunctional attitudes are risk factors of state anxiety and that OGM moderates the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and state anxiety. Furthermore, we found that an increase in dysfunctional attitudes is associated with high levels of state anxiety in individuals who have low levels of OGM. </sec><sec><strong>Conclusions:</strong> OGM may act as an affect-regulation strategy, and thus may buffer the negative effect of dysfunctional attitudes on state anxiety. </sec>

Clinical Observation of Computer Vision Technology Combined with Music Therapy in the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

With the world's population aging, Alzheimer's disease has attracted more and more attention as a common elderly disease. The clinical manifestations of cognitive function decline in Alzheimer's disease are mainly memory decline, which will seriously damage the patient's sense of self-worth. The purpose is to use the method of song recall to conduct individual music therapy intervention for Alzheimer's disease patients, to help Alzheimer's disease patients activate autobiographical memory, trigger positive emotions, improve behavioral symptoms, and delay the development of the disease. This paper proposes to combine computer vision technology with music therapy to obtain relevant data before and after intervention through the literature method, measurement method, case study method and experimental method. It helps AD patients to improve and slow down the forgetting and confusion of autobiographical memory, thereby enhancing the mood and cognition of AD patients. It observes the changes of AD patients before and after intervention by song recall and provides new ideas and practical basis for the application of music therapy in the field of Alzheimer's disease research. The experimental results showed that the subjects' autobiographical memory test (AMT) after 16 sessions of music therapy, from 12 points before the test to 14 points after the test. The scores were significantly positively correlated, and the improvement of autobiographical memory could improve the patient's orientation and memory.

Episodic Memories Among Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Patients: An Important Aspect of the IBS Symptom Experience.

Objective:Some IBS patients possess detailed memories of the events surrounding their bowel symptom onset (“episodic memories”). In this exploratory study we sought to: (1) examine memory relationship with gastrointestinal (GI) symptom severity, extraintestinal symptoms, and mood; (2) qualitatively explore memory valence and content in IBS patients with or without episodic memories.MethodsReferral IBS patients n = 29; age 47.0± 2.2 years, 79.3% female) enrolled in this cross-sectional, mixed methods research study. Participants completed validated specific memory instruments [Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), Sentence Completion for Events from the Past Test (SCEPT)] and relevant questionnaires [IBS symptoms 10-cm visual analog scale); SF-36 Health-related quality of life (HRQOL); Perley-Guze and PHQ-15/12: somatization; Beck Depression/Anxiety Inventories). Qualitative analysis examined the content and valence of general memories.Results14/29 (48.3%) of IBS subjects endorsed episodic memories of IBS symptom onset, often GI infections/enteritis (35.7%). Recall of the exact year (69%) and month (60%) of symptom onset were common. Episodic memories were associated with greater IBS symptom severity/bother, higher anxiety/depression, and poorer HRQOL. Though AMT and SCEPT memory specificity were not different based on episodic memories, overgeneralization to negatively-valenced cues in the AMT was associated with more severe IBS in those without episodic memory. Qualitative analysis revealed no observable differences in topic focus of IBS patients with and without episodic memories.ConclusionsIBS patients often endorse episodic memories associated with symptom onset, and this recall seems to associate with more severe symptoms. Overgeneralization responses to negative stimuli may lead to worse bowel symptoms in those without episodic memories. IBS memory specificity may associate with qualitative differences in processing psychosocial experiences and might be important to IBS pathophysiology.

Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Detailedness and Their Association with Depression in Early Adolescence

ABSTRACT Previous research with adults has shown mixed findings regarding the correlation between specificity and detailedness within autobiographical memories, and their associations with depressive symptoms. However, minimal research has tested these links in adolescents, despite the importance of this developmental period. The present investigation examined these associations in a sample of young community adolescents in Spain (N = 768; Mage = 11.04) by replicating methodology of existing studies. Cued recall was measured using the Autobiographical Memory Test and responses were subsequently coded for specificity (whether the memory referred to an event that lasted less than 24 hours) and amount of detail (time, place, sensory-perceptual information, etc.). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measure Information System (PROMIS) measure. Two linear mixed models showed that young adolescents who retrieved more detail recalled a greater number of specific memories and that specific memories included a greater amount of detail than nonspecific memories. However, neither memory specificity nor detail were associated with depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that, in a population of young adolescents, memory specificity and detail are distinct, but interrelated, constructs. Further longitudinal research should examine whether specificity and detail predict depressive symptoms differentially over the course of adolescence; possible mediators and moderators within this association should also be investigated.

Exploring the role of interoception in autobiographical memory recollection

The way we perceive signals coming from the inside of the body (i.e., interoception) may influence the processing of information related to the self. In this study, we investigated whether interoceptive sensibility may play a role in autobiographical memory processes. We evaluated 41 healthy participants with a modified version of the Autobiographical Memory Test, also assessing specificity, vividness, emotional valence, and intensity for autobiographical and public memories. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire measuring interoceptive sensibility. Results showed that autobiographical memories were recalled with higher specificity, vividness, and emotional intensity than public memories. Interestingly, we found that participants with (self-reported) high interoceptive sensibility recalled more positive events in the autobiographical compared to the public condition. Our findings provided new evidence on the selective role of physiological aspects of bodily self-awareness in autobiographical memory, suggesting that interoception is fundamental for supporting adaptive emotion regulation processes when recollecting engrams related to the self.

Direct retrieval bias for general and specific memories for negatively valenced cues in major depression.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with reduced specificity in autobiographical memory. It has been argued that this tendency occurs through a failure of effortful generative retrieval, regardless of valence of cue word. However, we propose that in MDD general memories are likely to be recalled via direct retrieval, and direct retrieval is more likely for negatively valenced cues. To provide a preliminary test of this, a large sample with MDD (N = 298; M age = 47.2) completed the autobiographical memory test and indicated whether retrievals were generative or direct. Categoric and extended memories for negatively valenced cues were more often directly retrieved than generatively retrieved, and more often than direct retrieval for positively valenced cues. In contrast, categoric and extended memories for positively valenced cues were more often generatively retrieved relative to generative retrieval for negatively valenced cues. Relative to non‐clinical samples, direct retrieval for negatively valenced cues was high. Retrieval method and valence may be moderating processes in the type of memories recalled. This preliminary work presents the possibility of an extension of theory on retrieval tendencies in MDD.

Autobiographical memory predicts postsurgical pain up to 12 months after major surgery.

Recent cross-sectional studies have identified differences in autobiographical memory (AM) among individuals with chronic pain, but the temporal relationship between the 2 is unknown. Moreover, AM has yet to be studied in patients undergoing major surgery. This study addressed these gaps by conducting a prospective, longitudinal study of memory performance, postsurgical pain, and psychosocial factors in 97 adult participants scheduled for major surgery. Memories were evaluated using the Autobiographical Memory Test before and one month after surgery when participants were asked to recall personal events related to positive and pain-related word cues. Responses were coded for level of specificity, emotional valence, and surgery-related content. Questionnaires assessing presence/absence of pain and psychological functioning were administered before and at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Generalized estimating equations modelled pain at each postsurgical time point with memory variables as predictors. As hypothesized, higher numbers of specific pain memories recalled before surgery predicted lower odds of pain across all time points (OR = 0.58, 95% CI [0.37-0.91]). Participants who took longer to recall pain memories before surgery (OR = 2.65, 95% CI [1.31-5.37]) and those who produced more surgery-related content at the one-month assessment (OR = 1.31, 95% CI [1.02-1.68]) had greater odds of reporting postsurgical pain up to 12 months later. These findings indicate that presurgical AM biases are risk factors for development and maintenance of postsurgical pain. To the extent that these biases are causal, presurgical interventions that modify the quality and content of patients' memories may prove to be promising strategies in the prevention of chronic postsurgical pain.

Emotional autobiographical memory impairment features in three mental disorders

We proposed the Emotional Autobiographical Memory Test (EAMT) as a specialized method for measuring emotional autobiographical memory impairment in patients with mental disorders. The EAMT was tested with 32 patients with schizophrenia, 18 patients with bipolar disorder, 32 patients with depression, and 42 people undiagnosed with such disorders. We extracted 13 indices of five kinds of features from participants' emotional autobiographical memory and compared them among the four groups. The overgeneralization result in the schizophrenia and depression groups was consistent with previous results, supporting the EAMT's validity. However, inconsistent with previous results, overgeneralization was not found in the bipolar disorder group. Further, the count of involuntary memories in the patient groups (vs. control group) was significantly smaller, which can guide future researchers in investigating the psychopathology of mental disorders.

Averting Repulsion? Body-Directed Self-Disgust and Autobiographical Memory Retrieval

A negative body image and appraisals of disgust with one’s (physical) self reflect schematic representations of one’s body, which we classified under the term repulsive body image (RBI). We propose that an RBI biases autobiographical memory processing towards schema (=RBI)-congruent and over-general memories. Women with high (HRBI; n = 61) and low (LRBI; n = 64) levels of habitual body-directed self-disgust were asked to retrieve memories in response to abstract body words in a minimal instruction Autobiographical Memory Test. Compared to the LRBI group, the HRBI group recalled a higher number of autobiographical memories that involved appraisals of the own body as disgusting, and reported elevated habitual tendencies to prevent experiencing disgust towards the own body. Neither RBI scores nor tendencies to prevent experiencing body-related disgust were found to be statistically significant predictors of memory specificity. The overall low memory specificity could be indicative of a need for more sensitive measures of autobiographical memory specificity to examine disgust-driven avoidance at the memory level. Nevertheless, the current results may indicate that disgust-related memories and the prevention of experiencing disgust towards the own body could play a role in body image concerns.

Trauma survivors with disrupted sleep generate less specific and less emotional autobiographical memories

Autobiographical memory in trauma-exposed individuals tends to be overgeneral and negatively biased. Although healthy sleep helps consolidate memory traces, and memory for emotional stimuli is better when there is a period of sleep between stimulus exposure and retrieval, and trauma-exposed individuals tend to experience disrupted sleep, no previous study investigates whether specific characteristics of autobiographical memory in these individuals may be accounted for, at least partially, by sleep disruption. Participants were 20 female sexual assault survivors and 20 women with no history of trauma exposure. We collected data from 1 night of polysomnographically monitored sleep and from a next-morning administration of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). In response to positive AMT stimuli, trauma-exposed participants with less REM sleep produced more overgeneral autobiographical memories. In response to both negative and neutral stimuli, trauma-exposed participants and participants with more disrupted sleep (e.g., lower sleep efficiency, more spontaneous arousals) produced less emotional autobiographical memories. In response to negative stimuli, trauma-exposed participants with more spontaneous arousals produced less emotional autobiographical memories. Our design did not include a separate group of non-traumatized depressed patients or a sleep adaptation night. Our text processing software did not allow investigation of whether the affective content of AMT responses was congruent with cue valence. Disrupted sleep, both independently and in interaction with trauma exposure, is associated with less specific and less emotional autobiographical recollections. Sleep-focused behavioral or pharmacological interventions might help alleviate cognitive and affective consequences associated with overgeneral and dispassionate autobiographical memory. • Trauma exposure plus disrupted sleep produces overgeneral autobiographical memory • Trauma exposure plus disrupted sleep produces dispassionate autobiographical memory • Disrupted sleep produces longer autobiographical recollections • Trauma exposure produces shorter autobiographical recollections

Performance on autobiographical memory tests measuring contextual details is impaired in subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment

AbstractBackgroundThe neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) occur many years prior to the onset of clinical symptoms. Subjective memory decline can occur during this phase, but no standardized, clinically usable neuropsychological tests are currently able to detect such changes. Autobiographical memory (AM) tests tap a brain network affected in “preclinical” AD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether AM test performance was impaired in persons with Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) and in persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and mild dementia due to AD.MethodWe included 17 SCD patients diagnosed according to international SCD criteria, 17 amnestic MCI (aMCI) patients, and 17 patients with mild dementia due to AD. A group of 30 healthy controls was also examined. All participants were ≥ 45 years old and had MMSE scores of ≥ 24. AM was assessed using the Columbia Autobiographical Memory Interview – Short Form (CAMI‐SF) and an instrument, which we named the 3 Events Test. Both measure the specificity of AM and the ability to provide details about personal experiences. We also applied cognitive and neuropsychiatric screening tests and a traditional neuropsychological battery.ResultFor the 3 Events Test, a significant effect of group was found. Post‐hoc testing showed that participants with SCD, aMCI, or mild AD produced significantly fewer contextual details than the healthy controls. An ANOVA also showed a significant effect of group for the CAMI‐SF, and post‐hoc testing showed that the aMCI and mild AD groups were able to answer fewer questions or gave less detailed answers compared to the other groups. The total scores on the CAMI‐SF were lower in the SCD group than in the control group, but the difference was not significant.ConclusionAM was compromised in SCD, aMCI, and mild AD, as reflected by lower scores on the 3 Events Test compared to the control group. Thus, AM may be impaired in very early AD – even in the phases where standard episodic memory tests show no decline. AM tests could be useful in the attempt to verify subjective memory problems, and a decline on such a test could indicate later cognitive decline.

Escaping from revulsion - disgust and escape in response to body-relevant autobiographical memories

ABSTRACT The term Repulsive Body Image (RBI) refers to a schematic construct combining body-directed self-disgust and other negative body image features, that is assumed to bias information processing, including autobiographical memory retrieval. When specific memories about the own body are retrieved, intense self-disgust may arise and trigger urges to escape from those memories. We asked 133 women with high (HRBI; n = 63) and low (LRBI; n = 70) levels of habitual body-directed self-disgust to recall autobiographical memories in response to 11 concrete body-related cue words in a minimal instructions Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Despite an overall low level of memory specificity, we found that RBI levels were associated with stronger disgust reactions and stronger motivations to escape from body-related memories. In addition, disgust reactions to body-related memories accounted for the association between habitual levels of self-disgust and urges to escape from these memories. Thus, the findings indicated that women with body image concerns showed disgust-based urges to escape from body-related memories. This disgust-based urge to avert from body-related autobiographical memories might counteract the correction of an RBI, thereby contributing to the persistence of body image concerns and associated psychopathology.

Specificity and wealth of autobiographical memories in restrictive and mixed anorexic patients.

The reduced specificity of positive and negative autobiographical memories observed in anorexic (AN) patients may reflect a global disturbance in their emotional information processing. However, their emotional difficulties may differ according to the subtype of AN, implying possible differences in the manifestation of autobiographical memory impairments. The aims of the study were (1) to confirm the autobiographical memory deficits in AN patients in terms of specificity and wealth of memories, and (2) to compare autobiographical deficits according to the AN subtype: restrictive type (AR) or binge/purging type (AB). Ninety-five non-clinical (NC) individuals and 95 AN patients including 69 AR and 22 AB patients were administered the Williams’ and Scott’s Autobiographical Memory Test. The results confirmed a lack of specificity regardless of emotional valence in the overall AN patient group without any distinction of subtype, which was linked to the number of hospitalizations. When the AN subtype was considered, AR patients demonstrated reduced specificity for negative memories only, suggesting differences in emotional functioning or in the mechanisms underlying reduced specificity between AR and AB patients. Furthermore, the overall AN group demonstrated lower variability and complexity in their memory content than the NC group. However, this difference in the complexity of recalled memories was only found in response to negative cues. When AN subtypes were considered, AR patients showed fewer complex memories than NC individuals. Beyond a reduced specificity, AN patients also depict a poverty in the range of event recall and a difficulty in developing narrative content. The clinical implications of such autobiographical memory deficits need to be further investigated.

Autobiographical memory in schizophrenia: The role of metacognition

BackgroundAutobiographical memory is an important component of declarative memory, which refers to the ability to recall personal events that happened in the past. This requires that the person senses or experiences himself/herself in the past (i.e., conscious recollection). For people with schizophrenia, conscious recollection can be particularly difficult, resulting in difficulty accessing detailed, specific autobiographical information. Our hypothesis is that the ability to monitor and think about one's cognitive processes (metacognition) is a requisite for conscious recollection, and that it mediates the association between having schizophrenia and recalling fewer specific, personal memories. MethodsParticipants were 30 adults with schizophrenia and 30 matched healthy controls. The main assessment instruments were the Metacognition Assessment Scale-Abbreviated (MAS-A) and the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Severity of symptoms was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Cognitive performance was measured with the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP). Mediation analysis was conducted following Baron and Kenny's procedure. ResultsPeople with schizophrenia had more semantic associations and fewer specific memories than controls in the AMT. Metacognition (MAS-A total score) partially mediated the association between having schizophrenia and recalling fewer specific past events, even after controlling for cognitive impairment as a potential confounding source. ConclusionsMetacognitive ability, which can be improved with available programs, intervenes in the process of accessing autobiographical memories in people with schizophrenia. Practical implications of this finding are discussed.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Late-Life Depression: a Randomised Controlled Trial.

Rumination and overgeneral autobiographical memory are dysfunctional cognitions commonly found in older adults with depression. The theoretical underpinnings of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) address the ruminative tendencies and the non-specific retrieval of autobiographical memories. This study aims to examine the efficacy and cognitive mechanisms of MBCT in older adults with active depressive symptoms. 57 older adults (mean age, 70 years) with normal cognition and mild to moderate depressive symptoms were randomly allocated to either the MBCT group or the active control group for 8 weeks. The MBCT group consisted of eight 2-hour weekly sessions and a 7-hour full-day retreat, with different themes for each class, guided mindfulness exercises, feedback and discussion, homework review, and psychoeducation. The active control group comprised a 1-hour physical exercise and a standardised health education of the specific theme with group discussion (eg fall prevention, chronic pain). Participants were assessed before and after the 8-week intervention for four outcome measures: the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). There was a significant reduction in severity of depressive symptoms (HAMD score) in both the MBCT group (F(1, 27) = 35.9, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.57) and the active control group (F(1, 28) = 9.29, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.24), but only the MBCT group showed substantial improvements in autobiographical memory specificity (AMT score), rumination (RRS score), and mindfulness (MAAS score). Although both MBCT and active control programme decrease the severity of depressive symptoms in older adults, only MBCT improves AMS, rumination, and mindfulness. Our findings provide empirical support for the theoretical underpinnings of MBCT. Older adults with more severe depression and more severe dysfunctional cognition may benefit more from the specific therapeutic effects of MBCT.

Development of an autobiographical memory test for older electroconvulsive therapy candidates.

To develop a test of autobiographical memory for monitoring of older people during a course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). A list of events commonly experienced in later life was gathered from older people (n = 26) at a psychogeriatric day clinic and from psychiatrists (n = 23) who work with older depressed patients. The most common events were chosen as question domains for an autobiographical memory interview. This was piloted with 12 severely depressed older patients. A list of 15 common life events was developed. After pilot testing, a final 30-item questionnaire covering six common life events was proposed. This study developed an autobiographical memory test with good face validity and potential for clinical use. It was modelled on a well-validated scale (The Columbia University Autobiographical Memory Interview, CUAMI-SF) and represented a useful first step in the development of a test for memory loss in older patients receiving ECT. The proposed test may be particularly sensitive to autobiographical memory loss in older people undergoing ECT because it uses recent personal memories, which are relatively commonly experienced in the older depressed population.

Mediating effects of working memory on the relationship between chronic pain and overgeneral autobiographical memory

ABSTRACT This study is to explore the function of working memory (WM) and autobiographical memory (AM) in patients with chronic pain. Totally, 331 patients with chronic pain and 333 healthy controls were recruited. These subjects were subjected to assessment with Pain Assessment Protocol (PAP), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Working Memory Index (WMI) and Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Patients with chronic pain scored significantly lower in WMI and higher in overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) of AMT. Chronic pain was significantly negatively related with WM and positively related with OGM. The structural equation model indicated that WM mediated the relationship of chronic pain and OGM. These findings suggest that WM and AM are impaired in the patients with chronic pain,,chronic pain is closely related with OGM, and WM acts an important mediating role between chronic pain and OGM.

Childhood trauma affects autobiographical memory deficits through basal cortisol and prefrontal-extrastriate functional connectivity

BackgroundPsychological trauma can damage the brain, especially in areas where glucocorticoid receptors are expressed, via perturbed secretion of cortisol. Childhood trauma is associated with blunted basal cortisol secretion, brain alterations, and autobiographical memory deficits referred to as overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM). However, it remains unknown whether childhood trauma affects OGM through altered cortisol and brain alterations. MethodsUsing resting-state fMRI in 100 healthy humans, we examined whether childhood trauma affects OGM through its related basal cortisol and brain functional connectivity (FC). Trauma and OGM were assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), respectively. Basal cortisol levels were measured by 10 points-in-time across two days. Multiple mediation analysis was employed. ResultsCTQ was associated with greater semantic-associate memory of OGM, a retrieval tendency toward semantic content with no specific contextual details of an experienced event, as well as blunted basal cortisol levels. While CTQ was correlated with decreased FC between the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), it showed a more predominant correlation with increased FC between the lateral and anteromedial PFC and extrastriate cortex. Importantly, the increased prefrontal-extrastriate FC completely mediated the relationship between CTQ and semantic-associate memory, affected by hyposecretion of cortisol. ConclusionChildhood trauma may lead to the lack of visuoperceptual contextual details in autobiographical memory by altering basal cortisol secretion and connectivity of the prefrontal-hippocampal-extrastriate regions. The intensified prefrontal-extrastriate connectivity may contribute to OGM formation by strengthening the semantic content in memory retrieval. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the trauma-cortisol-brain-memory link will provide important clinical implications for trauma-related mental disorders.

Delving into the detail: Greater episodic detail in narratives of a critical life event predicts an increase in adolescent depressive symptoms across one year

Depressed people have reduced ability to recall specific autobiographical memories, yet the role of reduced memory specificity in the development of adolescent depression is unclear. Two reasons are the limited longitudinal studies with this age group and the dominant use of just one measure of memory specificity, the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986). In the current one-year longitudinal study, community adolescents (N = 132, M = 16.13 years at Time 1) wrote about a life turning point, and their narratives were coded with respect to the amount of episodic and semantic detail. Participants also completed an adapted version of the Minimal Instructions AMT. Greater episodic detail in young people's turning point narrative was positively associated with depressive symptoms separately at Times 1 and 2, and uniquely predicted increases in depressive symptoms across the year. A non-positive valence of the turning point resolution also positively predicted Time 2 depressive symptoms. In contrast, specificity as assessed by the AMT did not predict such an increase. The results suggest that episodic detail in highly self-relevant narratives may be a sensitive predictor of increases in adolescent depressive symptoms across time. We consider excessive self focus and retrieval style as potential explanations of our findings.

Autobiographical Memory Specificity for Religious and Nonreligious Cues

The aim of this study is to investigate religious autobiographical memories by having self-reported atheist, Christian, and religiously uncommitted Swedes perform the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) with added religious word blocks. The specific aims are to investigate (1) possible group differences in memory specificity, (2) whether positive or negative cue words evoked a larger number of specific memories, and (3) whether participants produced a larger number of specific memories in response to religious or nonreligious cue words. Sisty participants were included, with twenty in each group (atheists, uncommitted, and Christians). No group differences in memory specificity were found. However, positive and nonreligious cue words were associated with a larger number of specific memories. The possibility of using AMT to study cultural differences is discussed.