Autobiographical memory in depressed and non-depressed patients with borderline personality disorder.
OBJECTIVE
The present study investigated the specificity of autobiographical memories among depressed and non-depressed borderline patients, compared with depressed patients and controls. The influence of childhood trauma, intrusions of traumatic events, avoidance of intrusions, dissociation and depression on memory specificity was also studied.


METHODS
The Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), a trauma interview and self-report measures of intrusions, avoidance, depression and dissociation were administered to 83 borderline outpatients, 26 depressed outpatients and 30 controls.


RESULTS
Depressed borderline patients and depressed patients reported fewer specific memories than controls. Depressed patients generated fewer specific memories than non-depressed borderline patients. Neither trauma nor traumatic intrusions, avoidance of intrusions or dissociation were related to the specificity of memories. Level of depressive symptoms (BDI) was also not related, but the presence of a depression was.


CONCLUSIONS
In this large sample of outpatients with borderline personality disorder, only the subgroup with a co-morbid diagnosis of depression had trouble remembering specific events from the past. Trauma, intrusions, avoidance of intrusions and dissociation seem to be unrelated to the specificity of autobiographical memories in borderline personality disorder.
Department of Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands. kremers@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
I P
IP
Kremers
Ph
P
Spinhoven
A J W
AJ
Van der Does
D000328:Adult; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory