An investigation of aspects of the cry of pain model of suicide risk: the role of defeat in impairing memory.
OBJECTIVE
Feelings of defeat and deficits in autobiographical memory are thought to be central to the formation of suicidal thoughts and behaviours. However, no work has established the role of defeat, specifically, in directly leading to memory problems. This study sought to assess whether a defeating event and associated defeated mood impaired memory for a story.


METHODS
Participants were from a student population. Those in the experimental condition (n=37) experienced an event which was designed to induce defeat prior to both the encoding and verbal retrieval of a story. Participants in control condition (n=37) experienced no such defeating event. Visual analogue scales of five mood states were taken at baseline, prior to encoding and prior to retrieval.


RESULTS
Participants in the experimental condition reported increased feelings of defeat following baseline, and recalled fewer story units relative to the control condition.


CONCLUSIONS
These results show that appraising an event as defeating increased subsequent defeated mood and led to impaired episodic memory, independently of low mood in general, thus suggesting a causal role of a specific negative mood state on impaired memory. Implications for clinical research are discussed.
Johnson
Judith
J
Division of Psychology, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Coupland Building 1, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Tarrier
Nicholas
N
Gooding
Patricia
P
D000293:Adolescent; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009341:Negativism; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult