The Relationship Between Parent and Adolescent Autobiographical Memory Specificity

<p>The ways we remember our past have been demonstrated to have important implications regarding our psychological functioning (Waters, 2014). Research suggests parents scaffold early remembering skills which can shape the amount of specific detail children can recall from their autobiographical memories (Autobiographical Memory Specificity; AMS) (Reese & Fivush, 1993; Reese, Haden, & Fivush, 1993; Valentino et al., 2014). The current study investigated whether parents and their adolescent children display similar patterns of AMS. In addition, previous literature has predominately utilised only one measure of AMS – the Autobiographical Memory Test (Williams & Broadbent, 1986). A critique of this measure and an argument for adopting a new measure of AMS is provided. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between parent and adolescent rumination which has been shown to share an important relationship with AMS (Williams et al., 2007) and, like AMS, is suggested to be socialised early in the life span (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyuboirsky, 2008). Sixty-seven parent-adolescent dyads were recruited, and measures of AMS and rumination were administered. A significant positive relationship between parent and adolescent rumination was found, however, the relationships between parent and adolescent AMS were non-significant. Implications regarding existing theory, limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed.</p>

The Relationship Between Parent and Adolescent Autobiographical Memory Specificity

<p>The ways we remember our past have been demonstrated to have important implications regarding our psychological functioning (Waters, 2014). Research suggests parents scaffold early remembering skills which can shape the amount of specific detail children can recall from their autobiographical memories (Autobiographical Memory Specificity; AMS) (Reese & Fivush, 1993; Reese, Haden, & Fivush, 1993; Valentino et al., 2014). The current study investigated whether parents and their adolescent children display similar patterns of AMS. In addition, previous literature has predominately utilised only one measure of AMS – the Autobiographical Memory Test (Williams & Broadbent, 1986). A critique of this measure and an argument for adopting a new measure of AMS is provided. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between parent and adolescent rumination which has been shown to share an important relationship with AMS (Williams et al., 2007) and, like AMS, is suggested to be socialised early in the life span (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyuboirsky, 2008). Sixty-seven parent-adolescent dyads were recruited, and measures of AMS and rumination were administered. A significant positive relationship between parent and adolescent rumination was found, however, the relationships between parent and adolescent AMS were non-significant. Implications regarding existing theory, limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed.</p>

Overgeneral autobiographical memory and psychopathology in adolescence

<p>Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM)—the tendency to report more general event memories when instructed to report specific past events—has been implicated in the development and maintenance of poor psychological functioning (Sumner, Griffith, & Mineka, 2010). One significant limitation of the OGM literature is that few studies have investigated associations between this memory bias and psychopathology in young people (Hitchcock, Nixon, & Weber, 2014a). Delineating associations between OGM and psychological functioning in adolescence can be argued particularly important, however, as symptoms of psychopathology increase steeply (Cicchetti & Toth, 1998). Specifically, longitudinal research with community youth is needed to clarify associations between OGM and psychological functioning before the onset of psychopathology. Accordingly, this thesis addressed three important gaps in the literature. In the first study, we extend the field by testing whether OGM represents a marker of vulnerability for psychopathology (depression and anxiety) in community youth (N = 269) across three annual assessment points. Across the entire sample, OGM did not predict symptoms of depression or anxiety. For youth who engage in higher levels of rumination, OGM predicted increases in anxiety symptoms, but only across a single time lag. These findings demonstrate that OGM does not represent a risk factor for emerging psychopathology in community youth. Preliminary evidence suggests that OGM may interact with rumination to influence anxiety symptoms under some conditions. The second study represents the first to test the predominant model of OGM—the CaR-FA-X model (Williams et al., 2007)—in its entirety and across four annual assessment points in community adolescents (N = 323). This theoretical account purports that three cognitive vulnerabilities (increased rumination and avoidance, and reduced executive control) foster OGM. Overall, findings from Study 2 suggest that the CaR-FA-X model has limited applicability in community youth. Increased avoidance predicted OGM, but this effect was limited to the final time lag and only emerged in the context of elevated longitudinal depression levels. Perhaps OGM represents a form of cognitive avoidance in youth when low mood persists for extended periods of time. In the third, and final, study we extend the literature by investigating associations between OGM and event-specific memory detail in a sample of community youth (N = 96). We also examined similarities and differences in how these two facets of autobiographical recollection associate with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and rumination across three annual assessment points. We found that youth who reported more specific memories did not report more detailed event recollections. Moreover, memory specificity and detail embedded in specific memories did not shed light on changes in psychological functioning. Rather, we found transient evidence of decreases in memory specificity and detail as a function of higher anxiety and rumination. As effects were inconsistent across time, conclusions can only be made cautiously, however. This thesis advances the field in several ways. The overarching patterns of findings across the three studies highlight that OGM does not represent an index of poor psychological functioning in community adolescents. The memory phenomenon did not predict increases in symptoms of depression or anxiety, nor did the three cognitive vulnerabilities that make up the CaR-FA-X model explain significant change in OGM. Moreover, OGM was not associated with biases in reporting of memory detail. Transient associations between OGM and psychological difficulties were found, but only in the context of heightened risk for psychopathology. Perhaps this style of remembering the past only has negative consequences for well-being in adolescence when it occurs alongside other cognitive and emotional problems.</p>

Overgeneral autobiographical memory and psychopathology in adolescence

<p>Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM)—the tendency to report more general event memories when instructed to report specific past events—has been implicated in the development and maintenance of poor psychological functioning (Sumner, Griffith, & Mineka, 2010). One significant limitation of the OGM literature is that few studies have investigated associations between this memory bias and psychopathology in young people (Hitchcock, Nixon, & Weber, 2014a). Delineating associations between OGM and psychological functioning in adolescence can be argued particularly important, however, as symptoms of psychopathology increase steeply (Cicchetti & Toth, 1998). Specifically, longitudinal research with community youth is needed to clarify associations between OGM and psychological functioning before the onset of psychopathology. Accordingly, this thesis addressed three important gaps in the literature. In the first study, we extend the field by testing whether OGM represents a marker of vulnerability for psychopathology (depression and anxiety) in community youth (N = 269) across three annual assessment points. Across the entire sample, OGM did not predict symptoms of depression or anxiety. For youth who engage in higher levels of rumination, OGM predicted increases in anxiety symptoms, but only across a single time lag. These findings demonstrate that OGM does not represent a risk factor for emerging psychopathology in community youth. Preliminary evidence suggests that OGM may interact with rumination to influence anxiety symptoms under some conditions. The second study represents the first to test the predominant model of OGM—the CaR-FA-X model (Williams et al., 2007)—in its entirety and across four annual assessment points in community adolescents (N = 323). This theoretical account purports that three cognitive vulnerabilities (increased rumination and avoidance, and reduced executive control) foster OGM. Overall, findings from Study 2 suggest that the CaR-FA-X model has limited applicability in community youth. Increased avoidance predicted OGM, but this effect was limited to the final time lag and only emerged in the context of elevated longitudinal depression levels. Perhaps OGM represents a form of cognitive avoidance in youth when low mood persists for extended periods of time. In the third, and final, study we extend the literature by investigating associations between OGM and event-specific memory detail in a sample of community youth (N = 96). We also examined similarities and differences in how these two facets of autobiographical recollection associate with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and rumination across three annual assessment points. We found that youth who reported more specific memories did not report more detailed event recollections. Moreover, memory specificity and detail embedded in specific memories did not shed light on changes in psychological functioning. Rather, we found transient evidence of decreases in memory specificity and detail as a function of higher anxiety and rumination. As effects were inconsistent across time, conclusions can only be made cautiously, however. This thesis advances the field in several ways. The overarching patterns of findings across the three studies highlight that OGM does not represent an index of poor psychological functioning in community adolescents. The memory phenomenon did not predict increases in symptoms of depression or anxiety, nor did the three cognitive vulnerabilities that make up the CaR-FA-X model explain significant change in OGM. Moreover, OGM was not associated with biases in reporting of memory detail. Transient associations between OGM and psychological difficulties were found, but only in the context of heightened risk for psychopathology. Perhaps this style of remembering the past only has negative consequences for well-being in adolescence when it occurs alongside other cognitive and emotional problems.</p>

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

<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>

Autobiographical memory specificity and mnemonic discrimination

Autobiographical memory specificity (AMS), which is the tendency to recall events that occurred at a particular time and place, enables everyday functioning, such as well-being and social problem-solving skills. A mechanism that may be important for AMS, hinting at the neural basis, is the possibility that pattern separation of similar events contributes to AMS. Pattern separation is an essential component of episodic memory and may allow us to encode and retain the unique aspects of events, making it easier to retrieve event-specific knowledge during retrieval. We examined the hypothesis that poor pattern separation is associated with a low proportion of specific memories and a high proportion of categoric memories derived from a lack of details regarding events. In Experiment 1 (N = 94) and Experiment 2 (preregistered; N = 99), participants completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), which measures AMS, and a pattern separation measure. We coded AMT responses conventionally and then further classified the categoric memory responses based on abstract representations that contained words denoting high frequency and those derived from lacking context information such as when and/or where event occurs. As predicted, the lure discrimination score was positively correlated with specific memories and negatively correlated with categoric memories derived from lacking context information. These results were invariant when controlling for participants’ characteristics, general intelligence, and recognition measures. We propose to distinguish between these two types of general categoric memory and discuss the development of an integrative model of autobiographical memory structure.

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

<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>

Improving Usual Care Outcomes in Major Depression in Youth by Targeting Memory Specificity: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Adjunct Computerised Memory Specificity Training (c-MeST)

Objective: Memory Specificity Training (MeST) improves the recall of past personal experiences, an impairment in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Extending on previous findings that computerised MeST (c-MeST) improves memory specificity and depressive symptoms in adults, this study aimed to answer two questions: 1) does c-MeST improve memory specificity and depressive symptoms in youth with MDD; and 2) does c-MeST improve memory specificity and depression in addition to other treatment? Methods: Participants aged 15-25 (N=359, 76.5% female; M age=19.2, SD=3.1), receiving predominantly psychological therapy or counselling (85%) and/or antidepressants (52.9%) were randomised to c-MeST or wait-list. Cognitive and clinical outcomes were assessed at baseline and at one, three, and six-month follow-ups. Results: The c-MeST group reported higher memory specificity at one-month (M change=1.13, 95%CI [0.16,2.10], d=.42, p=.022), but not other follow-ups. There was no significant group difference for Major Depressive Episode diagnosis at six-months (55.6% c-MeST vs. 68.8% control, odds ratio=0.56 95%CI [0.21,1.53], p=.266), but the c-MeST group did report lower depressive symptoms at one (M change=-1.84, 95%CI[-3.42,-0.25], d = .42, p = .023) and six-month follow-ups (M change=-3.91, 95%CI [-6.19,-1.63], d = .84, p = .001). Conclusions: c-MeST reduces symptoms in youth with MDD when provided alongside other treatments. There was some evidence that change in memory specificity drives these changes. Contrary to previous findings, specificity effects were not maintained, potentially due to the low intensity of c-MeST in this study. Further study is needed to understand more about co-occurring mechanisms that produce antidepressant effects.