title: Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional abuse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examined the relationship between trauma and memory specificity and the importance in this of level of support received.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-two female undergraduates completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams and Broadbent, 1986), assessing memory specificity and the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC; Nijenhuis, Van der Hart, and Vanderlinden, 1999), assessing qualitative aspects of trauma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In low-specific students, those who reported emotional abuse were less specific in their memory. The scores of students who had not received any support for the abuse showed a trend towards retrieval of less specific memories, as compared with those who had received support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results provide evidence for an association between trauma (emotional abuse) and reduced memory specificity, and suggest that receiving support following the abuse might protect individuals from developing over-general memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium. filip.raes@psy.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raes
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hermans
authors.forename: J Mark G
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eelen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires