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Updated: May 29, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
Early memories, object relations, and current relationship functioning
Timothy Dolan1, J Christopher Fowler
1Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
This study examined the relationship between dependency themes in 140 inpatients' early childhood memories (EM) and social interactions involving dependent behavior. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the type of dependent EM predicted overt behavior above and beyond demographic and diagnostic categories. Patients expressing clinging dependent themes in their narratives had greater involvement in social activities in the therapeutic community program and with nurses, whereas patients expressing counterdependent themes engaged in more hostile interactions with nursing staff members, were more self-destructive, and had more emergency department admissions over the course of inpatient treatment. Results are considered in light of the clinical utility of EMs.
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