Reduced autobiographical memory specificity and rumination in predicting the course of depression.
Reduced autobiographical memory (AM) specificity is a known vulnerability factor for depression. AM specificity was investigated as a predictor of depression with the Autobiographical Memory Test (J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986). When baseline depression scores were partialed, reduced AM specificity to negative cue words predicted higher levels of depression at 7-month follow-up. Once rumination was taken into account by means of the Rumination on Sadness Scale (M. Conway, P. A. R. Csank, S. L. Holm, & C. K. Blake, 2000), AM specificity no longer predicted depression, suggesting that the predictive value of AM specificity observed in previous studies might be--at least partly--explained as an effect of rumination. Further mediation analyses indeed revealed support for rumination as a mediator of the relation between reduced AM specificity and poor outcome of depression.
Raes
Filip
F
Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. filip.raes@psy.kuleuven.be
Hermans
Dirk
D
Williams
J Mark G
JM
Beyers
Wim
W
Brunfaut
Els
E
Eelen
Pau
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D015897:Comorbidity; D003463:Cues; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index