Association between intrusive negative autobiographical memories and depression: A meta-analytic investigation

Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
Stella Mihailova, Laura Jobson

Abstract

The study investigated several associations between depression and intrusive negative autobiographical memories. A systematic literature search identified 23 eligible studies (N = 2,582), which provided 59 effect sizes. Separate meta-analyses indicated that depression was moderately, positively associated with intrusive memory frequency, memory distress, maladaptive memory appraisals, memory avoidance, and memory rumination. Intrusive memory vividness was not significantly associated with depression. There were insufficient data to examine the relationship between depression and memory vantage perspective. Between-study heterogeneity was high for intrusive memory frequency and memory avoidance, and the percentage of females in studies significantly moderated the relationship between these variables and depression. An additional exploratory meta-analysis (3 studies; N = 257) indicated that intrusive memories were experienced more frequently by those with posttraumatic stress disorder than those with depression. Overall, the findings suggest that intrusive memories warrant clinical attention as they may contribute to the maintenance of depressive symptomatology.

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Citations

Mar 25, 2018·The British Journal of Clinical Psychology·Laura JobsonFirdaus Mukhtar
Jun 14, 2020·Stress and Health : Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress·Michelle LonerganDanielle Groleau
Feb 9, 2021·Clinical Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Marcus O HarringtonScott A Cairney
Jul 23, 2021·PloS One·Sarah K DominguezChristopher William Lee
Oct 8, 2021·Stress and Health : Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress·Rebecca GrekinMichael W O'Hara

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