title: Reduced autobiographical memory specificity in bereaved Afghan adolescents.
abstract: This study investigated the effect of bereavement (father death due to war in Afghanistan) on autobiographical memory specificity in Afghan adolescents living in Iran. Participants consisted of bereaved (n=70) and non-bereaved (n=33) Afghan adolescents. The measures included Farsi versions of the Autobiographical Memory Test, Mood and Feeling Questionnaire, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Impact of Event Scale. Results indicated that the bereaved group retrieved a significantly lower proportion of specific memories and a significantly greater proportion of extended and categoric memories than the non-bereaved group. Additionally, depression symptoms and reduced autobiographical memory specificity were significantly correlated. These findings suggest that bereaved adolescents have impaired autobiographical memory specificity.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Isfahan , Hezarjerib , Isfahan , Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Taher
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Neshat Doost
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yule
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kalantari
authors.forename: Sayed Rohollah
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Rezvani
authors.forename: Atle
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dyregrov
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jobson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D000346:Afghanistan; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*