Self-defining memories in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients.
Patients with alcohol dependence have been shown to be impaired in recalling specific autobiographical events, yet little is known on how changes in the memory of these events may impact their self-representation. In this study, we examined Self-Defining Memories (SDMs), a specific type of autobiographical memory that plays a key role in the construction of personal identity, in 25 patients with alcohol dependence, abstinent from alcohol from 10 days to 6 months, compared to 28 control subjects. We observed that SDMs in patients were significantly less specific and included more reference to alcohol than those of controls. Patients also reported more SDMs with negative emotional valence and higher emotional intensity. These results suggest that recently abstinent alcohol-dependent patients may be prone to define themselves by negative events referring to alcohol consumption, which may contribute to an unfavorable perception of their self and subsequently of their ability to remain abstinent. These findings should be taken into account to optimize psychological approaches in the treatment of alcohol-dependence.
Department of Psychiatry, Reims University Hospital, Reims, France; Department of Psychology, Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Psychopathologie et Psychologie de la Santé EA 7411 (CERPPS), Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès University, Toulouse, France. Electronic address: ccuervo@chu-reims.fr.
Christine
C
Cuervo-Lombard
Department of Psychiatry, Reims University Hospital, Reims, France; Cognition Santé Socialisation Laboratory, EA 6291, Reims Champagne-Ardenne University, Reims, France.
Delphine
D
Raucher-Chéné
Department of Psychiatry, Reims University Hospital, Reims, France.
Sarah
S
Barrière
Department of Cognitive Psychopathology, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Martial
M
Van der Linden
Department of Psychiatry, Reims University Hospital, Reims, France; Cognition Santé Socialisation Laboratory, EA 6291, Reims Champagne-Ardenne University, Reims, France.
Arthur
A
Kaladjian
D000328:Adult; D064829:Alcohol Abstinence / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept
Alcohol dependence; Autobiographical memory; Self; Self-defining memories