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Lau-Zhu A, Williams F, Steel C. Attachment patterns and autobiographical episodic memory functioning: A systemic review of adult studies to advance clinical psychological science. Clin Psychol Rev 2023; 101:102254. [PMID: 36804184 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
Patterns of insecure attachment are associated with psychopathology but the mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. Cognitive science proposes that attachment patterns are influenced by the autobiographical memory system and in turn influence its ongoing functioning. Disturbances in autobiographical memory represent cognitive risks for later emotional difficulties. We systemically reviewed 33 studies (in 28 articles) examining the association between attachment patterns and autobiographical episodic memory (AEM) in individuals from the age of 16 (i.e., from young to older adulthood). Attachment patterns were associated with key areas of AEM phenomenology, including intensity and arousal; detail, specificity, and vividness; coherence and fragmentation; and accuracy and latency. These associations appeared to be moderated by contextual and individual factors; mediated by emotional regulation and schema-based processing; linked to mental health outcomes. Attachment patterns may also influence the impact of certain AEM-based manipulations. We conclude by providing a critical discussion and a research agenda for bringing together attachment, memory, and emotion, with a view to promote mechanism-driven treatment innovation in clinical psychology.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Lau-Zhu
- Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Research, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
| | - F Williams
- Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Research, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - C Steel
- Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Research, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Gonzalves L, Chae Y, Wang Y, Widaman KF, Bederian‐Gardner D, Goodman‐Wilson M, Thompson RA, Shaver PR, Goodman GS. Children’s Memory and Suggestibility Years Later: Age, Distress, and Attachment. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/acp.3988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Chae Y, Goodman GS, Wang Y, Goodman M, McWilliams K, Shaver PR, Thompson RA, Widaman KF. Parents' attachment orientation, interviewers' support, and children's memory for a mildly distressing event. Memory 2021; 29:1384-1395. [PMID: 34694210 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2021.1988644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Parents' attachment orientations predict children's memory about distressing life events, such that parents who are less secure in close relationships tend to have children who are less accurate in their memory reports. This study examined whether socially supportive interviewing would reduce differences in children's memory performance associated with parents' attachment. Children (3 to 5 years, N = 63) and their primary caretakers took part in the Preschool Attachment Classification System (PACS), a moderately distressing event for children of preschool age that is based on the Strange Situation Procedure. Children's memory for the event was then tested shortly thereafter by either a supportive or a non-supportive interviewer. In the non-supportive condition, children whose parents scored higher on attachment avoidance provided lower proportions of correct free recall. However, the association was not significant for children in the supportive condition. In addition, higher parental attachment anxiety predicted lower proportions of correct free recall for children of highly avoidant parents, but not for children of parents lower in attachment avoidance. For direct questions, age differences in proportion correct and proportion incorrect favoured older children. Findings provide insight into interviewing techniques at time of memory retrieval that benefit children of insecure parents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoojin Chae
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
| | - Gail S Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Yan Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Miranda Goodman
- Department of Psychology, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Kelly McWilliams
- Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA
| | - Phillip R Shaver
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ross A Thompson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Keith F Widaman
- Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
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Parent-child attachment security is associated with preschoolers' memory accuracy for emotional life events through sensitive parental reminiscing. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 209:105168. [PMID: 33940484 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
There is considerable controversy regarding the accuracy and suggestibility of children's autobiographical memory for emotionally salient life events. Attachment perspectives of autobiographical memory development identify the attachment security of parent-child dyads and parents' emotional support and coherence during reminiscing with their children as critical mechanisms underlying children's memory accuracy and suggestibility. In the current investigation, 72 preschool-aged children (M = 4.01 years, SD = 0.85; 44 female) reminisced with their parents about times they felt happy, sad, scared, and angry. Children were then independently interviewed about these experiences by an unfamiliar researcher using free recall, specific questions (i.e., questions about factual details), and misleading questions (i.e., questions suggesting false details). Parents completed an assessment of their children's attachment security within the parent-child relationship. Results revealed significant indirect effects of parent-child attachment security on children's memory accuracy through parental sensitive guidance during reminiscing when cognitive (i.e., intelligence) and behavioral (i.e., temperament, behavior problems) covariates were statistically controlled. Parent-child attachment security was positively associated with parental sensitive guidance during reminiscing, which, in turn, was positively associated with the accuracy of children's independent reports. The findings support attachment perspectives of autobiographical memory by identifying emotionally sensitive and coherent reminiscing as a parenting behavior that explains in part associations between parent-child attachment security and children's independent memory accuracy for emotional life events.
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Autobiographical memory stability in the context of the Adult Attachment Interview. Cognition 2019; 191:103980. [PMID: 31238247 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2018] [Revised: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests that both attachment representations and autobiographical memories are moderately stable over time. Evidence examining the stability of attachment-related memories is scarce, although these memories of early caregiving are thought to underpin attachment representations. Connecting research on stability of autobiographical memories with research on attachment representation, the present study investigated the stability of attachment-related autobiographical memories, which were provided by 151 emerging adults in repeated Adult Attachment Interviews conducted seven years apart. Results show that these childhood memories are as stable as other memories from later periods of life, and that memory stability depends on retrieval mode, memory valence, autobiographical memory specificity, and memory content (i.e., maternal vs. paternal caregiver). Investigating the relation of stability of attachment-related memory content with attachment security revealed mainly an association with secure base script knowledge, supporting the notion that attachment representations are firmly rooted in semantic and autobiographical memory systems.
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Parlar M, Densmore M, Hall GB, Lanius R, McKinnon MC. Neural and behavioural correlates of autobiographical memory retrieval in patients with major depressive disorder and a history of trauma exposure. Neuropsychologia 2018; 110:148-158. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Revised: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Maternal attachment is differentially associated with mother-child reminiscing among maltreating and nonmaltreating families. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 169:1-18. [PMID: 29306182 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2017] [Revised: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 12/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In the current investigation, we examined associations between maternal attachment and the way that mothers and children discuss past emotional experiences (i.e., reminiscing) among 146 maltreating and 73 nonmaltreating mothers and their 3- to 6-year-old children. Recent studies demonstrate that maltreating mothers engage in less elaborative reminiscing compared with nonmaltreating mothers. To further explicate the nature of reminiscing among maltreating families, we examined maternal and child contributions to reminiscing, their interrelations, and associations with maternal attachment among dyads from maltreating and nonmaltreating families. Maternal attachment is theoretically and empirically associated with mother-child reminiscing, and an insecure maternal attachment style was hypothesized to exacerbate poor elaborative reminiscing among maltreating families. Mothers and children reminisced about four emotional experiences. Maternal attachment was measured with the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire. Mothers and children from maltreating families engaged in less elaborative and emotion-rich reminiscing compared with nonmaltreating dyads. Maternal attachment anxiety was negatively associated with maternal elaborative reminiscing, but only among nonmaltreating mothers. Mother-child reminiscing among dyads with nonmaltreating and low attachment anxiety mothers was highly collaborative; whereas reminiscing among dyads with maltreating and high attachment anxiety mothers was less reciprocal. Our findings largely support communicative perspectives of attachment theory and also indicate that maternal attachment is differentially associated with mother-child reminiscing among maltreating and nonmaltreating families.
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Goodman GS, Jones O, McLeod C. Is There Consensus About Children's Memory and Suggestibility? JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2017; 32:926-939. [PMID: 30145963 DOI: 10.1177/0886260516657358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The modern scientific study of children's eyewitness memory was initially motivated, in important part, by the sensational preschool investigations and prosecutions of the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., the McMartin case, the Kelly Michaels case, the Country Walk case). These cases form the centerpiece of Professor Cheit's scholarly book, The Witch-Hunt Narrative. In recent years, researchers have made great strides in helping the legal system tackle some of the complex issues involved in child sexual abuse investigations. While commenting on Professor Cheit's book, we review areas of consensus regarding child forensic interviewing, areas of disconnect between scientific laboratory studies and needs of the legal system, and the potential effects of bias on the scientific enterprise relevant to Professor Cheit's treatise. Although we find that there is consensus in the field regarding a set of general principles, there is often room for disagreement in evaluating a particular case, and there is still much to be learned about how best to interview children when allegations of sexual abuse arise.
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Parlar M, Lee A, Haqqee Z, Rhooms L, Lanius RA, McKinnon MC. Parental bonding and neuropsychological performance are associated with episodic simulation of future events in trauma-exposed patients with major depressive disorder. Brain Behav 2016; 6:e00474. [PMID: 27458541 PMCID: PMC4951616 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2015] [Revised: 02/17/2016] [Accepted: 03/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Major depressive disorder (MDD) and trauma-related disorders are associated with deficits in remembering the past and imagining the future (i.e., episodic simulation). We examined parental bonding and neuropsychological performance in relation to episodic simulation in trauma-exposed patients with recurrent MDD. METHODS Trauma-exposed patients with MDD (n = 21) and matched controls (n = 20) completed a future-oriented Autobiographical Interview, the Parental Bonding Instrument, and a standardized neuropsychological battery. RESULTS Patients with major depressive disorder generated fewer episodic details for future neutral events compared to controls. Although higher reported levels of maternal care were associated with increased specificity of negative future events among the patient group, higher maternal overprotection was related to decreased specificity of negative and positive future events. Higher levels of performance on measures of intelligence, verbal memory, executive functioning, and sustained attention were associated with increased specificity of future events. CONCLUSIONS Maternal relations during childhood and neuropsychological performance are related to the specificity of episodic simulation in adult patients with MDD. Childhood experience continues to influence memory performance into adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Parlar
- McMaster Integrative Neuroscience Discovery and Study McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada; Mood Disorders Program St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Ontario Canada
| | - Alex Lee
- Mood Disorders Program St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Ontario Canada
| | - Zeeshan Haqqee
- Mood Disorders Program St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Ontario Canada
| | - Latisha Rhooms
- Mood Disorders Program St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Ontario Canada
| | - Ruth A Lanius
- Department of Psychiatry University of Western Ontario London Ontario Canada
| | - Margaret C McKinnon
- McMaster Integrative Neuroscience Discovery and Study McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada; Mood Disorders Program St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Ontario Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada; Homewood Research Institute Guelph Ontario Canada
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McDonnell CG, Valentino K, Comas M, Nuttall AK. Mother-child reminiscing at risk: Maternal attachment, elaboration, and child autobiographical memory specificity. J Exp Child Psychol 2015; 143:65-84. [PMID: 26630033 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2015.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2015] [Revised: 10/19/2015] [Accepted: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Mother-child reminiscing, the process by which mothers and their children discuss past events and emotional experiences, has been robustly linked with child outcomes, including autobiographical memory. To advance previous work linking elaborative maternal reminiscing with child autobiographical memory specificity, the ability to generate and retrieve specific memories from one's past, it is essential to make distinctions among aspects of elaboration and to consider how maternal risk factors may influence the reminiscing context. The current study evaluated (a) an interaction between emotional and structural elaboration predicting child autobiographical memory specificity and (b) the potential moderating role of maternal adult attachment. Participants consisted of 95 preschool-aged children and their mothers. The sample was predominantly low income and racially diverse. Dyads completed a reminiscing task that was coded for emotional and structural elaboration. Mothers completed the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire (ECR-R) to assess attachment-related avoidance and anxiety, and children completed the Autobiographical Memory Test-Preschool Version (AMT-PV) to assess memory specificity. Results indicated that the association between structural reminiscing and child memory specificity was moderated by emotional elements of reminiscing. At high levels of emotional elaboration, mothers with high levels of structural elaboration had children with more specific memory than mothers with low levels of structural elaboration. Moreover, emotional elaboration (a) predicted less specific child memory without high structural support and (b) negatively predicted child specificity at high levels of maternal attachment avoidance and anxiety, a profile associated with fearful avoidance. Future directions and implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kristin Valentino
- Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Michelle Comas
- Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Amy K Nuttall
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
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Valentino K, McDonnell CG. Distinguishing between Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Memory: A Commentary on Reminiscing and Child Maltreatment. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1002/acp.3187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Schaaf JM, Bederian-Gardner D, Goodman GS. Gating Out Misinformation: Can Young Children Follow Instructions to Ignore False Information? BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW 2015; 33:390-406. [PMID: 26294380 DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2015] [Revised: 06/28/2015] [Accepted: 06/28/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The current study investigated the effects of misinformation on children's memory reports after practice with the logic-of-opposition instruction at time of test. Four- and 6-year-old children participated in a play event in Session 1. During a two-week delay, parents presented their children with either misinformation or correct information about the play event. Prior to a memory interview in Session 2, some misled children were given a developmentally appropriate logic-of-opposition instruction to not report information provided by their parents. Results indicated that children were misled by the incorrect information, but that the logic-of-opposition instruction aided in the children's retrieval of the original memory, particularly for the 6-year-olds. Implications of the results for memory malleability and social demand effects in children are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M Schaaf
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | | | - Gail S Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
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Melinder A, Baugerud GA, Ovenstad KS, Goodman GS. Children's memories of removal: a test of attachment theory. J Trauma Stress 2013; 26:125-33. [PMID: 23371403 DOI: 10.1002/jts.21784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
We report a study of parents' attachment orientations and children's autobiographical memory for an experience that according to Bowlby's (1982) attachment theory should be particularly threatening-children's forced separation from their parents. It was hypothesized that individual differences in parents' attachment orientations would be associated with children's distress and memory for this highly traumatic event. Children (n = 28) were observed during forced removal from home or school by Child Protective Services due to allegations of child maltreatment. Children's memory for the removal was tested 1 week later, and biological parents (n = 28) completed an adult attachment measure. Parental attachment anxiety significantly predicted children's distress during less stressful phases of the removal, R(2) = .25, and parents' attachment-related avoidance predicted fewer correct memory reports from the children (i.e., fewer hits to open-ended questions, R(2) = .16, and fewer hits to direct questions, R(2) = .27). The findings indicate that attachment theory provides important guidance for understanding children's autobiographical memory for traumatic events.
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Children's and adults' memory for emotional pictures: examining age-related patterns using the Developmental Affective Photo System. J Exp Child Psychol 2012; 114:339-56. [PMID: 23107226 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2012.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2012] [Accepted: 08/10/2012] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Two studies were conducted to examine theoretical questions about children's and adults' memory for emotional visual stimuli. In Study 1, 7- to 9-year-olds and adults (N=172) participated in the initial creation of the Developmental Affective Photo System (DAPS). Ratings of emotional valence, arousal, and complexity were obtained. In Study 2, DAPS pictures were presented to 20 8- to 12-year-olds and 30 adults, followed by a recognition memory test. Children and adults recognized aversive images better than neutral images. Moreover, children and adults recognized high and moderate arousal images more accurately than low arousal images. Adults' memory for neutral images exceeded that of children, but there were no developmental differences in memory for aversive pictures. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.
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