Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T04:20:37.120Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What predicts overgeneral memory in youth? Testing the CaR-FA-X model longitudinally in community adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2018

Charlotte Gutenbrunner ,
Karen Salmon  and
Paul E. Jose
Charlotte Gutenbrunner*
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
Karen Salmon
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
Paul E. Jose
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Charlotte Gutenbrunner, School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Overgeneral autobiographical memory, the tendency to report general memories when asked to report specific event recollections, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. The dominant model of overgeneral memory, the CaR-FA-X model (Williams et al., 2007), proposes that three cognitive processes (increased rumination and avoidance, and reduced executive control) either independently, or in interaction, interfere with successful memory retrieval. Although psychopathology increases significantly during adolescence, no research has tested this model in its entirety, including interaction effects, longitudinally in community youth. We tested the model with 323 adolescents (152 females, 171 males) across four annual assessment points. Increased avoidance predicted higher proportions of overgeneral memories from Time 3 to Time 4, but this association was stronger for youth with elevated depressive symptoms across the four waves, and limited to memories generated in response to negative cue words. This finding may indicate that youth with stable higher levels of depression remember in an overgeneral way to avoid re-elicitation of negative event-related emotions. In youth with lower depression levels across time, the CaR-FA-X mechanisms did not predict overgeneral memory.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 759 - 770
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This research was supported by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund (VUW1308) (to K.S. and P.J. and associate investigators Richard Bryant, Robyn Fivush, and Elaine Reese). We gratefully acknowledge the schools and students who participated in this study. The authors also thank research fellows and assistants Rebecca Edwards, Ruth Glynn, Sam Knight, Kate Bryson, and Mary Dewhurst and the many students who assisted with data collection and management and who contributed to discussions of the ideas in this paper. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References

Abela, J. R. Z., Brozina, K., & Haigh, E. P. (2002). An examination of the response styles theory of depression in third- and seventh-grade children: A short-term longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 515–527. doi:10.1023/A:1019873015594Google Scholar
Abela, J. R. Z., Rochon, A., & Vanderbilt, E. (2000). The children's response style questionnaire (unpublished). Montreal, Canada: McGill University.Google Scholar
Anderson, V., Anderson, P., Northam, E., Jacobs, R., & Catroppa, C. (2001). Development of executive functions through late childhood and adolescence in an Australian sample. Developmental Neuropsychology, 20, 385–406. doi:10.1207/S15326942DN2001Google Scholar
Arbuckle, J. L. (2014). Amos 23.0 user's guide. Chicago: IBM SPSS.Google Scholar
Brennen, T., Hasanović, M., Zotović, M., Blix, I., Skar, A. M. S., Prelić, N. K., … Gavrilov-Jerković, V. (2010). Trauma exposure in childhood impairs the ability to recall specific autobiographical memories in late adolescence. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23, 240–247. doi:10.1002/jts.20513Google Scholar
Bridgett, D. J., Oddi, K. B., Laake, L. M., Murdock, K. W., & Bachmann, M. N. (2013). Integrating and differentiating aspects of self-regulation: effortful control, executive functioning, and links to negative affectivity. Emotion, 13, 47–63. doi:10.1037/a0029536Google Scholar
Capaldi, D. M., & Rothbart, M. K. (1992). Development and validation of an early adolescent temperament measure. Journal of Early Adolescence, 12, 153–173.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1998). The development of depression in children and adolescents. The American Psychologist, 53, 221–241. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.53.2.221Google Scholar
Conway, M. A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000). The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review, 107, 261–288. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.107.2.261Google Scholar
Costello, E. J., Foley, D. L., & Angold, A. (2006). 10-year research update review: The epidemiology of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders: II. Developmental epidemiology. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45, 8–25. doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000184929.41423.c0Google Scholar
Costello, E. J., Mustillo, S., Erkanli, A., Keeler, G., & Angold, A. (2003). Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 837–844. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.60.8.837Google Scholar
Crane, C., Heron, J., Gunnell, D., Lewis, G., Evans, J., & Williams, J. M. G. (2016). Adolescent over-general memory, life events and mental health outcomes: Findings from a UK cohort study. Memory, 24, 348–363. doi:10.1080/09658211.2015.1008014Google Scholar
Dalgleish, T., Williams, J. M. G., Golden, A. M. J., Perkins, N., Barrett, L. F., Barnard, P. J., … & Watkins, E. (2007). Reduced specificity of autobiographical memory and depression: The role of executive control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 23. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2014.06.010Google Scholar
Dalgleish, T., & Werner-Seidler, A. (2014). Disruptions in autobiographical memory processing in depression and the emergence of memory therapeutics. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18, 596–604. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.136.1.23Google Scholar
Debeer, E., Hermans, D., & Raes, F. (2009). Associations between components of rumination and autobiographical memory specificity as measured by a Minimal Instructions Autobiographical Memory Test. Memory, 17, 892–903. doi:10.1080/09658210903376243Google Scholar
Dickson, K. S., Ciesla, J. A., & Reilly, L. C. (2012). Rumination, worry, cognitive avoidance, and behavioral avoidance: Examination of temporal effects. Behavior Therapy, 43, 629–640. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2011.11.002Google Scholar
Duckworth, A.L., & Steinberg, L. (2015). Unpacking self-control. Child Development Perspective, 9, 32–37. doi:10.1111/cdep.12107Google Scholar
Ellis, L. K., & Rothbart, M. K. (2001). Revision of the early adolescent temperament questionnaire. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.Google Scholar
Ganly, T. J., Salmon, K., & McDowall, J. (2017). Is remembering less specifically part of an avoidant coping style? Associations between memory specificity, avoidant coping, and stress. Cognition and Emotion, 31, 1419–1430. doi:10.1080/02699931.2016.1227304Google Scholar
Glynn, R., Salmon, K., & Jose, P. (2016). The influence of reporting mode on children's cued personal memories. Memory, 24, 1224–1230. doi:10.1080/09658211.2015.1088034Google Scholar
Griffith, J. W., Sumner, J. A., Raes, F., Barnhofer, T., Debeer, E., & Hermans, D. (2012). Current psychometric and methodological issues in the measurement of overgeneral autobiographical memory. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 43, S21–S31. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.05.008Google Scholar
Gutenbrunner, C., Salmon, K., & Jose, P. E. (2018). Do overgeneral autobiographical memories predict increased psychopathological symptoms in community youth? A 3-year longitudinal investigation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 46, 197–208. doi:10.1007/s10802-017-0278-5Google Scholar
Hamlat, E. J., Connolly, S. L., Hamilton, J. L., Stange, J. P., Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (2015). Rumination and overgeneral autobiographical memory in adolescents: An integration of cognitive vulnerabilities to depression. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 806–818. doi:10.1007/s10964-014-0090-2Google Scholar
Hermans, D., Raes, F., Williams, J. M. G., & Eelen, P. (2005). Reduced autobiographical memory specificity as an avoidant coping style. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44, 583–589. doi:10.1002/da.20326Google Scholar
Hermans, D., de Decker, A., De Peuter, S., Raes, F., Eelen, P., & Williams, J. M. G. (2008). Autobiographical memory specificity and affect regulation: Coping with a negative life event. Depression and Anxiety, 25, 787–792. doi:10.1348/014466505X53461Google Scholar
Hipwell, A. E., Sapotichne, B., Klostermann, S., Battista, D., & Keenan, K. (2011). Autobiographical memory as a predictor of depression vulnerability in girls. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 40, 254–265. doi:10.1080/15374416.2011.546037Google Scholar
Hitchcock, C., Nixon, R. D. V., & Weber, N. (2014a). A longitudinal examination of overgeneral memory and psychopathology in children following recent trauma exposure. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 531–538. doi:10.1111/bjc.12034Google Scholar
Hitchcock, C., Nixon, R. D. V, & Weber, N. (2014b). A review of overgeneral memory in child psychopathology. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 170–193.Google Scholar
Hitchcock, C., Werner-Seidler, A., Blackwell, S. E., & Dalgleish, T. (2017). Autobiographical episodic memory-based training for the treatment of mood, anxiety and stress-related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 52, 92–107. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2016.12.003Google Scholar
Jing, H. G., Madore, K. P., & Schacter, D. L. (2016). Worrying about the future: An episodic specificity induction impacts problem solving, reappraisal, and well-being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 402–418. doi:10.1037/xge0000142Google Scholar
Joormann, J., & Gotlib, I. H. (2010). Emotion regulation in depression: Relation to cognitive inhibition. Cognition & Emotion, 24, 281–298. doi:10.1080/02699930903407948Google Scholar
Jose, P. E., & Brown, I. (2008). When does the gender difference in rumination begin? Gender and age differences in the use of rumination by adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 180–192. doi:10.1007/s10964-006-9166-yGoogle Scholar
Jose, P. E., & Huntsinger, C. S. (2005). Moderation and mediation effects of coping by Chinese American and European American adolescents. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 166, 16–43. doi:10.3200/GNTP.166.1.16-44Google Scholar
Jung, T., & Wickrama, K. A. (2008). An introduction to latent class growth analysis and growth mixture modeling. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 302–317. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00054.xGoogle Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Amminger, G. P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., Lee, S., & Ustun, T. B. (2007). Age of onset of mental disorders: A review of recent literature. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20(4), 359–364. doi:10.1097/YCO.0b013e32816ebc8cGoogle Scholar
Kovacs, M. (1985). The children's depression inventory. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21, 995–998.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M. (1992). The children's depression inventory (CDI) manual. New York, NY: Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Kuyken, W., & Dalgleish, T. (2011). Overgeneral autobiographical memory in adolescents at risk for depression. Memory, 19, 241–250. doi:10.1080/09658211.2011.554421Google Scholar
Kuyken, W., Howell, R., & Dalgleish, T. (2006). Overgeneral autobiographical memory in depressed adolescents with, versus without, a reported history of trauma. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 387–396. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.115.3.387Google Scholar
Lo, Y., Mendell, N. R., & Rubin, D. B. (2001). Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika, 88, 767–778. doi:10.1093/biomet/90.4.991Google Scholar
Moore, S. A., & Zoellner, L. A. (2007). Overgeneral autobiographical memory and traumatic events: An evaluative review. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 419–437. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.3.419Google Scholar
Moulds, M. L., Kandris, E., Starr, S., & Wong, A. C. (2007). The relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression in a non-clinical sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 251–261. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.03.003Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2015). Mplus user's guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.Google Scholar
Ottenbreit, N. D., & Dobson, K. S. (2004). Avoidance and depression: The construction of the Cognitive–Behavioral Avoidance Scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293–313. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(03)00140-2Google Scholar
Park, R. J., Goodyer, I. M., & Teasdale, J. D. (2004). Effects of induced rumination and distraction on mood and overgeneral autobiographical memory in adolescent major depressive disorder and controls. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 45, 996–1006. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.t01-1-00291.xGoogle Scholar
Peterson, C., Baker-Ward, L., & Grovenstein, T. N. (2016). Childhood remembered: Reports of both unique and repeated events. Memory, 24, 240–256. doi:10.1080/09658211.2014.1001991Google Scholar
Raes, F., Hermans, D., de Decker, A., Eelen, P., & Williams, J. M. G. (2003). Autobiographical memory specificity and affect regulation: An experimental approach. Emotion, 3, 201–206. doi:10.1037/1528-3542.3.2.201Google Scholar
Raes, F., Schoofs, H., Griffith, J. W., & Hermans, D. (2012). Rumination relates to reduced autobiographical memory specificity in formerly depressed patients following a self-discrepancy challenge: The case of autobiographical memory specificity reactivity. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 43, 1002–1007. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.03.003Google Scholar
Raes, F., Verstraeten, K., Bijttebier, P., Vasey, M. W., & Dalgleish, T. (2010). Inhibitory control mediates the relationship between depressed mood and overgeneral memory recall in children. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 39, 276–281. doi:10.1080/15374410903532684Google Scholar
Rawal, A., & Rice, F. (2012). A longitudinal study of processes predicting the specificity of autobiographical memory in the adolescent offspring of depressed parents. Memory, 20, 518–526. doi:10.1080/09658211.2012.683011Google Scholar
Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (1998). Temperament. In Damon, W., Eisenberg, N. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (Vol. 13, 105–176). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Salmon, K., & O'Kearney, R. (2014). Emotional memory, psychopathology, and well-being. In Bauer, P. J. and Fivush, R. (Eds.), The Wiley handbook on the development of children's memory (pp. 743–773). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Smets, J., Griffith, J. W., Wessel, I., Walschaerts, D., & Raes, F. (2013). Depressive symptoms moderate the effects of a self-discrepancy induction on overgeneral autobiographical memory. Memory, 21, 751–761. doi:10.1080/09658211.2012.756039Google Scholar
Stokes, D. J., Dritschel, B. H., & Bekerian, D. A. (2004). The effect of burn injury on adolescents autobiographical memory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 1357–1365. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2003.10.003Google Scholar
Sumner, J. A. (2012). The mechanisms underlying overgeneral autobiographical memory: An evaluative review of evidence for the CaR-FA-X model. Clinical Psychology Review, 32, 34–48. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.10.003Google Scholar
Sumner, J. A., Mineka, S., Adam, E. K., Craske, M. G., Vrshek-Schallhorn, S., Wolitzky-Taylor, K., & Zinbarg, R. E. (2014). Testing the CaR-FA-X model: investigating the mechanisms underlying reduced autobiographical memory specificity in individuals with and without a history of depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 123, 471–486. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2010.03.013Google Scholar
Sumner, J. A., Griffith, J. W., & Mineka, S. (2010). Overgeneral autobiographical memory as a predictor of the course of depression: A meta-analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 614–625. doi:10.1037/a0037271Google Scholar
Valentino, K. (2011). A developmental psychopathology model of overgeneral autobiographical memory. Developmental Review, 31(1), 32–54. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2011.05.001Google Scholar
Valentino, K., Bridgett, D. J., Hayden, L. C., & Nuttall, A. K. (2012). Abuse, depressive symptoms, executive functioning, and overgeneral memory among a psychiatric sample of children and adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 41, 491–498. doi:10.1080/15374416.2012.660689Google Scholar
Valentino, K., Nuttall, A. K., Comas, M., McDonnell, C. G., Piper, B., Thomas, T. E., & Fanuele, S. (2014). Mother–child reminiscing and autobiographical memory specificity among preschool-age children. Developmental Psychology, 50(4), 1197. doi:10.1037/a0034912Google Scholar
Wang, Q. (2004). The emergence of cultural self-constructs: Autobiographical memory and self-description in European American and Chinese children. Developmental Psychology, 40, 3–15. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.1.3Google Scholar
Waters, T., Bauer, P., & Fivush, R. (2014). Autobiographical memory functions served by multiple event types. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 185–195. doi:10.1002/acp.2976Google Scholar
Watkins, E., & Teasdale, J. D. (2004). Adaptive and maladaptive self-focus in depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 82(1), 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2003.10.006Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (2004). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth UK Edition. London: Harcourt Assessment.Google Scholar
Williams, J. M. G., Barnhofer, T., Crane, C., Herman, D., Raes, F., Watkins, E., & Dalgleish, T. (2007). Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 122–148. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.122Google Scholar