Preliminary evidence for a relationship between prospective memory and PTSD symptoms in the general population
Taylor L Swain1, Melanie K T Takarangi1
1Flinders University, Australia.
Introduction:
PTSD sufferers often have problems with remembering the past, but do they also have trouble remembering tasks to be completed in the future? We argue characteristics of PTSD-such as negative appraisals and maladaptive strategies-might contribute to biased reporting of prospective memory failures among PTSD sufferers-or people with severe PTSD symptoms-within a general population.
Methods:
Mechanical Turk participants completed a questionnaire battery measuring self-report prospective memory, PTSD symptoms, negative appraisals and maladaptive strategies (e.g., suppression), and depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.
Results:
PTSD symptom severity positively correlated with self-report prospective memory failures (rs = .42-49). PTSD symptoms affected self-report prospective memory via their influence on negative appraisals and maladaptive strategies.
Limitations:
Our findings rely on self-report, therefore we do not know if this relationship generalizes to objective prospective memory tasks.
Conclusions:
Our data provide preliminary evidence for a relationship between PTSD symptomatology and subjective prospective memory in the general population and suggest that the negative appraisals and maladaptive strategies that commonly accompany PTSD might underpin this relationship.
More Related Videos
09:55Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
08:29Biomarkers in an Animal Model for Revealing Neural, Hematologic, and Behavioral Correlates of PTSD
Published on: October 10, 2012
Related Concept Videos
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Symptoms and Behavioral Manifestations
A spectrum of distressing symptoms characterizes PTSD. Recurrent flashbacks, where individuals involuntarily relive traumatic events,...
Traumatic Memory
Repressed Memory
Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative Fugue
A hallmark feature of dissociative disorders is the dissociative fugue...
Eyewitness Memory
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function...
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
