title: Is overgeneral autobiographical memory an isolated memory phenomenon in major depression?
abstract: The present study explored the relation between overgeneral autobiographical memory (AM) and other aspects of memory functioning in depression. A total of 26 patients with major depressive disorder completed a set of memory tasks measuring AM specificity (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986), working memory, semantic memory, verbal learning, delayed verbal recall, recognition memory, and source memory. Reduced specificity of AM was related to poor working memory (central executive functioning) and poor source memory. The former finding conforms to the idea that the voluntary retrieval of specific autobiographical memories (AMs) involves central executive processes (e.g., Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). The latter finding replicates and extends recent findings suggesting that overgeneral AM is part of a broader memory deficit in retrieving the specific details of the context in which information was acquired (Ramponi, Barnard, & Nimmo-Smith, 2004). Furthermore, in line with Ramponi et al. (2004), rumination was found to be related to both overgeneral AM and poor source memory.
authors.affiliation: University of Leuven, Belgium. filip.raes@psy.kuleuven.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: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Demyttenaere
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sabbe
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pieters
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eelen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011581:Psychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning