scholarly journals Autobiographical Memory Specificity in a Community Youth Sample: Relations of Specific and Overgeneral Memories with Rumination, Executive Control, and Depression

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nic Allan
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Linear Relationship ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Effortful Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Memory Specificity

<p>Depression is associated with a tendency to recall a greater number of overgeneral memories (OGM) and fewer specific memories. The CaRFAX model (Williams, 2006) poses three mechanisms maintain OGM, but little work has investigated how these mechanisms uniquely relate to OGM beyond the variance they share with each other. There is also a substantial lack of research as to how the mechanisms of the CaRFAX model relate to OGM in typically developing youth, as much research has focused on adult and clinical samples. This study addressed these gaps in the literature by assessing a cross-sectional community youth sample (N = 658) to investigate two mechanisms of the CaRFAX model: executive control and rumination. A written version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) was used to measure both the number of OGMs and specific memories recalled. Depression was measured with the Child Depression Inventory-2, rumination was measured with a self-report Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire, and executive control was measured with a verbal fluency task and a self-report measure of effortful control; the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire- Revised. Depression had a positive linear relationship with OGM and a negative linear relationship with specific memories. Both relationships were weak and became non-significant after accounting for age. A non-linear cubic positive relationship was found for OGM to negative cues predicting variance in depression. Over and above the shared variance between CaRFAX mechanisms, verbal fluency and effortful control evidenced no relationship with OGM but positively correlated with memory specificity. Conversely, rumination only related to a higher number of OGMs to negative cues. No interactions were found between rumination and executive control. Findings were interpreted with caution due to the small strength of relationships found. It is suggested that the relationships between depression, OGM/memory specificity, and CaRFAX mechanisms may only be clinically meaningful at high levels of psychopathology.</p>

scholarly journals Autobiographical Memory Specificity in a Community Youth Sample: Relations of Specific and Overgeneral Memories with Rumination, Executive Control, and Depression

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nic Allan
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Linear Relationship ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Effortful Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Memory Specificity

<p>Depression is associated with a tendency to recall a greater number of overgeneral memories (OGM) and fewer specific memories. The CaRFAX model (Williams, 2006) poses three mechanisms maintain OGM, but little work has investigated how these mechanisms uniquely relate to OGM beyond the variance they share with each other. There is also a substantial lack of research as to how the mechanisms of the CaRFAX model relate to OGM in typically developing youth, as much research has focused on adult and clinical samples. This study addressed these gaps in the literature by assessing a cross-sectional community youth sample (N = 658) to investigate two mechanisms of the CaRFAX model: executive control and rumination. A written version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) was used to measure both the number of OGMs and specific memories recalled. Depression was measured with the Child Depression Inventory-2, rumination was measured with a self-report Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire, and executive control was measured with a verbal fluency task and a self-report measure of effortful control; the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire- Revised. Depression had a positive linear relationship with OGM and a negative linear relationship with specific memories. Both relationships were weak and became non-significant after accounting for age. A non-linear cubic positive relationship was found for OGM to negative cues predicting variance in depression. Over and above the shared variance between CaRFAX mechanisms, verbal fluency and effortful control evidenced no relationship with OGM but positively correlated with memory specificity. Conversely, rumination only related to a higher number of OGMs to negative cues. No interactions were found between rumination and executive control. Findings were interpreted with caution due to the small strength of relationships found. It is suggested that the relationships between depression, OGM/memory specificity, and CaRFAX mechanisms may only be clinically meaningful at high levels of psychopathology.</p>

scholarly journals Avoidance and overgeneral memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tim Ganly
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Test ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Overgeneral Memory ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Avoidance Strategies ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Overgeneral memory is a phenomenon that occurs in depression in which people tend to remember temporally non-specific autobiographical memories. Overgeneral memory may be functional; by avoiding specific memories, potentially distressing emotions can avoided. This “functional avoidance” may be part of a repertoire of avoidance strategies people use when they are under stress. The question of the relationship between avoidance, stress, and overgeneral memory has been investigated using only laboratory-based stressors, and no previous research has examined the relationships in both non-clinical and clinical samples. Across four studies, this thesis investigated the relationships between avoidance and overgeneral memory in clinical and non-clinical samples and whether every-day stress moderates this relationship.  Studies 1, 2, and 4 engaged undergraduate samples in which mean depression scores were low (non-clinical samples). Study 3 engaged a sample from a university counselling service in which the mean depression score was high (clinical sample). Participants completed self-report measures of avoidance and stress. They were also asked to remember specific events to a series of emotion cue words on the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). This thesis also investigated the possibility that avoidance may be associated with a reduction in memory performance on other tests of autobiographical memory besides the AMT, perhaps because other types of memories, not just specific, can be distressing. Thus, in Study 1, participants also completed the Autobiographical Memory Test-Reversed (AMT-R) in which they were asked to retrieve general memories. In addition, across studies, the pleasantness of events remembered to positive and negative cues was examined. In Study 4, the possible moderating role of rating pleasantness on the relationship between avoidance and overgeneral memory was examined.  Results from the non-clinical samples indicated higher avoidance was associated with less overgeneral remembering on the AMT. In the clinical sample, there were no significant relationships between avoidance and overgeneral memory. There were no significant relationships between avoidance and AMT-R performance. Overall, stress did not moderate the relationship between avoidance and overgeneral memory. Mean pleasantness ratings for events remembered to positive and negative cues were congruent with cue valence. However, individual positive and negative cues did not always elicit memories for pleasant and unpleasant events, respectively. Rating (vs. not rating) the pleasantness of remembered events did not moderate the relationship between avoidance and overgeneral memory. Overall, findings suggested that functional avoidance is not part of a repertoire of avoidance strategies. Ironic process theory is discussed as an explanation for why higher avoidance was associated with a lower proportion of overgeneral memories in the non-clinical samples.</p>

scholarly journals Performance difference in verbal fluency in bilingual and monolingual speakers

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijeet Patra ◽  
Arpita Bose ◽  
Theodoros Marinis
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Difference Score ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fluency Task

AbstractResearch has shown that bilinguals can perform similarly, better or poorly on verbal fluency task compared to monolinguals. Verbal fluency data for semantic (animals, fruits and vegetables, and clothing) and letter fluency (F, A, S) were collected from 25 Bengali–English bilinguals and 25 English monolinguals in English. The groups were matched for receptive vocabulary, age, education and non-verbal intelligence. We used a wide range of measures to characterize fluency performance: number of correct, fluency difference score, time-course analysis (1st RT, Sub-RT, initiation, slope), clustering, and switching. Participants completed three executive control measures tapping into inhibitory control, mental-set shifting and working memory. Differences between the groups were significant when executive control demands were higher such as number of correct responses in letter fluency, fluency difference score, Sub-RT, slope and cluster size for letter fluency, such that bilinguals outperform the monolinguals. Stroop performance correlated positively with the slope only for the bilinguals.

scholarly journals Dietary patterns and internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742110314
Author(s):  
Laura Orlando ◽  
Katarina A Savel ◽  
Sheri Madigan ◽  
Marlena Colasanto ◽  
Daphne J Korczak
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Dietary Patterns ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Cross Sectional

Context: Studies of child and adolescent internalizing symptoms and dietary pattern have produced mixed results. Objectives: To quantify the association between dietary patterns and internalizing symptoms, including depression, in children and adolescents. Data sources: Embase, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science and Cochrane up to March 2021. Study selection: Observational studies and randomized controlled trials with mean age ⩽ 18 years, reporting associations between diet patterns and internalizing symptoms. Data extraction: Mean effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were determined under a random-effects model. Results: Twenty-six studies were cross-sectional, 12 were prospective, and 1 used a case-control design. The total number of participants enrolled ranged from 73,726 to 116,546. Healthy dietary patterns were negatively associated with internalizing ( r = –0.07, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [–0.12, 0.06]) and depressive symptoms ( r = –0.10, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [–0.18, –0.08]). Effect sizes were larger for studies of healthy dietary patterns and internalizing and depressive symptoms using self-report versus parent-report measures, as well as in cross-sectional studies of healthy dietary patterns and depression compared to prospective studies. Unhealthy dietary patterns were positively associated with internalizing ( r = 0.09, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [0.06, 0.14]) and depressive symptoms ( r = 0.10, p < 0.01, 95% CI [0.05, 0.17]). Larger effect sizes were observed for studies of unhealthy dietary patterns and internalizing and depressive symptoms using self-report versus parent-report measures. Limitations: A lack of studies including clinical samples and/or physician diagnosis, and a paucity of studies in which anxiety symptoms were the primary mental health outcome. Conclusion: Greater depression and internalizing symptoms are associated with greater unhealthy dietary patterns and with lower healthy dietary intake among children and adolescents.

scholarly journals Avoidance and overgeneral memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tim Ganly
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Test ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Overgeneral Memory ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Avoidance Strategies ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Overgeneral memory is a phenomenon that occurs in depression in which people tend to remember temporally non-specific autobiographical memories. Overgeneral memory may be functional; by avoiding specific memories, potentially distressing emotions can avoided. This “functional avoidance” may be part of a repertoire of avoidance strategies people use when they are under stress. The question of the relationship between avoidance, stress, and overgeneral memory has been investigated using only laboratory-based stressors, and no previous research has examined the relationships in both non-clinical and clinical samples. Across four studies, this thesis investigated the relationships between avoidance and overgeneral memory in clinical and non-clinical samples and whether every-day stress moderates this relationship.  Studies 1, 2, and 4 engaged undergraduate samples in which mean depression scores were low (non-clinical samples). Study 3 engaged a sample from a university counselling service in which the mean depression score was high (clinical sample). Participants completed self-report measures of avoidance and stress. They were also asked to remember specific events to a series of emotion cue words on the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). This thesis also investigated the possibility that avoidance may be associated with a reduction in memory performance on other tests of autobiographical memory besides the AMT, perhaps because other types of memories, not just specific, can be distressing. Thus, in Study 1, participants also completed the Autobiographical Memory Test-Reversed (AMT-R) in which they were asked to retrieve general memories. In addition, across studies, the pleasantness of events remembered to positive and negative cues was examined. In Study 4, the possible moderating role of rating pleasantness on the relationship between avoidance and overgeneral memory was examined.  Results from the non-clinical samples indicated higher avoidance was associated with less overgeneral remembering on the AMT. In the clinical sample, there were no significant relationships between avoidance and overgeneral memory. There were no significant relationships between avoidance and AMT-R performance. Overall, stress did not moderate the relationship between avoidance and overgeneral memory. Mean pleasantness ratings for events remembered to positive and negative cues were congruent with cue valence. However, individual positive and negative cues did not always elicit memories for pleasant and unpleasant events, respectively. Rating (vs. not rating) the pleasantness of remembered events did not moderate the relationship between avoidance and overgeneral memory. Overall, findings suggested that functional avoidance is not part of a repertoire of avoidance strategies. Ironic process theory is discussed as an explanation for why higher avoidance was associated with a lower proportion of overgeneral memories in the non-clinical samples.</p>

scholarly journals Cognitive performance in patients with Myasthenia Gravis: an association with glucocorticosteroid use and depression

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-323
Author(s):  
Annelise Ayres ◽  
Pablo Brea Winckler ◽  
Laís Alves Jacinto-Scudeiro ◽  
Rafaela Soares Rech ◽  
Geraldo Pereira Jotz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Myasthenia Gravis ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Prevalence Ratio ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Cross Sectional

ABSTRACT. We investigated the cognitive performance of patients with Myasthenia Gravis (MG) through a cross-sectional study. A battery of cognitive assessments and self-report questionnaires regarding quality of life (QoL), sleep, and depression were applied. The sample consisted of 39 patients diagnosed with MG. The scores showed a predominance of cognitive impairment in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment screening test (MoCA) (66.7%) and in the immediate (59.0%) and recent memory (56.4%) tests. However, after the Poisson regression analysis with robust variance, it was found that patients diagnosed with depression had a prevalence ratio (PR) of 1,887 (CI 1,166‒3,054) for lower MoCA scores, PR=9,533 (CI 1,600‒56,788) for poorer phonemic verbal fluency scores, and PR=12,426 (CI 2,177‒70,931) for the Semantic Verbal Fluency test. Moreover, concerning a decline in short-term memory retention, patients using glucocorticosteroids (GC) and with Beck Depression Inventory scores indicating depression showed PR=11,227 (CI 1,736‒72,604) and PR=0.35 (CI 0.13‒0.904), respectively. No correlation was found between the QoL questionnaire and performance in cognitive tests. We found worse performance in tasks of memory and executive functions in MG patients. These are not associated with the length and severity of the disease. However, a significant prevalence ratio was found for poorer memory performance in patients diagnosed with depression and in those using GC.

Perfectionism in a Transdiagnostic Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurențiu P. Maricuțoiu ◽  
Silvia Măgurean ◽  
Bogdan Tudor Tulbure
Keyword(s):  
Linear Relationship ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Axis I ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Multiple Domains ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Despite recent claims that perfectionism is a transdiagnostic process, few studies have directly tested this hypothesis. We investigated the relationship between perfectionism measured by the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R) and the Axis I psychopathology (affective and anxiety disorders) using a transdiagnostic approach. Adult participants ( N = 450, 78% females, Mage = 33 years) completed a series of online self-report measures of perfectionism, anxiety, and depression for this cross-sectional study. The results support a linear relationship between the Discrepancy subscale of APS-R and anxiety/affective psychopathology, while a non-linear relationship appeared between the High Standards subscale of APS-R and anxiety/affective psychopathology. Overall, we provided additional evidence for the transdiagnostic nature of perfectionism, as higher levels of perfectionistic concerns appear to be associated with higher number of clinical symptoms in multiple domains. The possible implications of the study are discussed.

An investigation of the mediating factors in the relationship between early childhood adversity and borderline personality characteristics in forensic inpatients

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
Helena Varnaseri ◽  
Tony Lavender ◽  
Lona Lockerbie
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Social Problem Solving ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Memory Specificity ◽  
Autobiographical Memory Specificity ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether early maladaptive schema (EMS) and autobiographical memory specificity mediate the relationship between abuse and attachment in childhood with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) characteristics among forensic inpatients. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional design. In total, 34 male adults residing in medium secure facilities completed self-report measures. Data were analysed using bootstrapped mediation procedures. Findings – The study’s hypotheses received partial support. The EMS of “entitlement/grandiosity” and autobiographical memory specificity differentially mediated the relationship between emotional and physical abuse and neglect, and parental care and overprotection with BPD characteristics, including trait anger and the frequent expression of anger. In line with attachment theory and the functional avoidance mechanism (Williams et al., 2007), the proposed mediators are conceptualised as adaptive responses to early adversity with potential maladaptive consequences for later interpersonal functioning. Research limitations/implications – These provisional findings will require further exploration with specific investigation of the relationship between EMS and autobiographical memory specificity. It is recommended that future research replicates the study’s design with a larger sample and investigate the role of other mediators and moderators in this complex relationship. Examples of these are mentalisation, social problem-solving capabilities, social support and adult attachment styles. Practical implications – Clinical implications encourage the incorporation of these mediators into clinical formulation, intervention and ward practices. Originality/value – For forensic inpatients with a history of adversity, interventions working directly with EMS and specificity of autobiographical memory, e.g. schema therapy (Young, 1999), mentalisation and mindfulness may be useful. Furthermore, the relationship between EMS and specificity of autobiographical memory with interpersonal experience and functioning can be incorporated into clinical formulation.

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