Impairment in autobiographical memory in women with post-traumatic stress disorder: a comparative analysis of autobiographical specificity, central executive functioning and self-concept clarity

The primary focus of this research was to investigate autobiographical memory (AM) recall styles associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to examine mechanisms theoretically associated with reduced specificity of recall in PTSD in women, particularly central executive functioning (a component of working memory) and self-concept clarity. The CaFRAX model (Capture, Functional Avoidance & Executive Processes; Williams, 2006) and the Cognitive Motivational Model (CMM; Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000) of Autobiographical Memory (AM), suggest that intentional retrieval of specific memories can be impaired by reduced central executive functioning, functional avoidance of negative affect, and by abstract selfcognitions. These processes can cause premature truncation of a top-down memory search and result in recall errors at different levels of abstraction AMs (Categoric & Extended). Although reduced AM specificity is theoretically linked to traumatic experiences, there are inconclusive findings regarding the role of trauma in its development. There are relatively few studies of people diagnosed with PTSD, so the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon in PTSD are poorly articulated as yet. This thesis examined the hypotheses that two types of memory impairment would be apparent in women with PTSD [PTSD group; n = 19, Age = 47.26, SD = 10.81] compared to trauma-exposed women without PTSD [Trauma group; n = 17, Age = 49.94, SD = 12.53] and women never exposed to trauma [Control group; n = 21, Age = 44.29, SD = 16.93] and that the level of AM specificity achieved would by related to working memory. Autobiographical memory recall was examined using the Autobiographical Memory Test and declarative memory measured by performance on the California Verbal Learning Test–Version Two (CVLT-II). The structural cohesion of the self in PTSD was investigated using the Self-concept Clarity (SCC) scale, to establish whether the organisation of self-aspects are disorganised in women suffering PTSD as inferred by self-schemas theories of PTSD (e.g., Janoff-Bulman, 1992; McCann & Pearlman, 1990). Declarative memory and SCC variables were then utilised to examine the mechanisms underlying reduced AM specificity after exposure to traumatic events.