title: Coping style and memory specificity in adolescents and adults with histories of child sexual abuse.
abstract: Individuals with histories of childhood trauma may adopt a nonspecific memory retrieval strategy to avoid unpleasant and intrusive memories. In a sample of 93 adolescents and adults with or without histories of child sexual abuse (CSA), we tested the hypothesis that nonspecific memory retrieval is related to an individual's general tendency to use avoidant (i.e., distancing) coping as a personal problem-solving or coping strategy, especially in victims of CSA. We also examined age differences and other individual differences (e.g., trauma-related psychopathology) as predictors of nonspecific memories. Distancing coping was significantly associated with less specific autobiographical memory. Younger age, lower vocabulary scores, and non-CSA childhood maltreatment (i.e., physical and emotional abuse) also uniquely predicted less autobiographical memory specificity, whereas trauma-related psychopathology was associated with more specific memory. Implications for the development of autobiographical memory retrieval in the context of coping with childhood maltreatment are discussed.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Latonya S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Massachusetts , Lowell , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Block
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology , Duke University , Durham , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Christin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ogle
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Gail S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.affiliation: d Department of Psychology , University of Oslo , Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: Else-Marie
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Augusti
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Rakel P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.affiliation: e Department of Pediatrics , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Culver
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Annarheen R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pineda
authors.affiliation: e Department of Pediatrics , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Susan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Timmer
authors.affiliation: e Department of Pediatrics , University of California , Davis , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urquiza
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Memory; adolescents; adults; child sexual abuse; overgeneral memory