Overgeneral autobiographical memory predicts changes in depression in a community sample
People who struggle to recall specific personal memories – instead retrieving overly general ones – tend to have worse outcomes in depression. This community study examined whether this ‘overgeneral memory’ pattern predicts changes in depression over time, contributing to our understanding of a cognitive mechanism that may be relevant for both assessment and treatment planning.
Abstract
This study investigated whether overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) predicts the course of symptoms of depression and anxiety in a community sample, after 5, 6, 12 and 18 months. Participants (N=156) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) at baseline and were subsequently reassessed using the DASS-21 at four time points over a period of 18 months. Using latent growth curve modelling, we found that OGM was associated with a linear increase in depression. We were unable to detect changes over time in anxiety. OGM may be an important marker to identify people at risk for depression in the future, but more research is needed with anxiety.
Keywords: autobiographical memory, overgeneral memory, depression, community sample, cognitive mechanisms
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Reference
Van Daele, T., Griffith, J. W., Van den Bergh, O., & Hermans, D. (2014). Overgeneral autobiographical memory predicts changes in depression in a community sample. Cognition & Emotion, 28, 1303–1312. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.879052