Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients.
James Williams, John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal, Judith M. Soulsby
Journal of Abnormal Psychology January 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1037//0021-843x.109.1.150 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractRecovered depressed patients who received a psychological treatment designed to reduce relapse risk recalled fewer generic memories in response to cue words, while those receiving usual care showed no change. This suggests that overgeneral autobiographical memory, previously observed in depressed, suicidal, and PTSD patients, can be modified through treatment.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Recovered depressed patients |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Autobiographical memory Cognition Clinical psychology Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 436 |
| Key finding | Psychological treatment designed to reduce relapse risk reduced the number of generic autobiographical memories in recovered depressed patients. |
Abstract
Previous research on depressed and suicidal patients and those with posttraumatic stress disorder has shown that patients' memory for the past is overgeneral (i.e., patients retrieve generic summaries of past events rather than specific events). This study investigated whether autobiographical memory could be affected by psychological treatment. Recovered depressed patients were randomly allocated to receive either treatment as usual or treatment designed to reduce risk of relapse. Whereas control patients showed no change in specificity of memories recalled in response to cue words, the treatment group showed a significantly reduced number of generic memories. Although such a memory deficit may arise from long-standing tendencies to encode and retrieve events generically, such a style is open to modification.