title: Autobiographical memory in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study is to investigate deficits in autobiographical memory in adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty female individuals with AN and 60 healthy volunteers with an age range of 11-18 years were enrolled. The Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), the Eating Disorder Inventory-3, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 for the evaluation of alexithymia and Children's Depression Inventory to evaluate depressive traits were administered. In addition to classical AMT words, we proposed seven experimental cues, chosen from words often used by individuals with eating disorders in daily life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Girls with AN showed a massive overgeneral memory effect. This effect was not related to the presence of depression or alexithymia but increased with the duration of the disorder rather than with its severity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The alteration of autobiographical memory manifests in adolescence. Girls with AN showed a dysregulation of both negative and positive emotional experiences that seemed to be influenced by the disease duration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy; Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bomba
authors.forename: Mirella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marfone
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brivio
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oggiano
authors.forename: Fiorenza
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Broggi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nacinovich
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003463:Cues; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: alexithymia; anorexia nervosa; autobiographical memory; depression; overgeneral memories