Background: Recurrent symptom-relevant negative autobiographical memories are common in patients with emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression, even among those without a trauma-related diagnosis. Recurrent negative autobiographical memories may also contribute to distress in non-clinical populations.

Methods: To examine the prevalence of recurrent negative autobiographical memories and associated psychological features, we recruited a student sample ( = 101) and a treatment-seeking sample of patients with emotional disorders ( = 123). We hypothesized that recurrent negative autobiographical memories would be associated with higher levels of psychological symptoms and rumination. We also conducted exploratory analyses of participants' most bothersome memory.

Results: In each sample, individuals who endorsed recurrent negative autobiographical memories had significantly higher depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms as well as greater rumination. In the treatment-seeking sample, where memories also had to be identified by patients as symptom-relevant, those who endorsed memories also had significantly higher clinician-rated symptom severity for their primary diagnosis. The majority of participants in each sample endorsed moderate or greater re-experiencing (sample 1: 79 %, sample 2: 66 %) and avoidance symptoms (sample 1: 78 %, sample 2: 58 %) related to their most bothersome memory.

Conclusion: Recurrent negative autobiographical memories relate to mental health symptoms in both clinical and non-clinical samples. Further research should explore whether targeting such memories reduces distress or improves wellbeing in these populations.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11721819PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.xjmad.2024.100074DOI Listing

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