Citation

Edelstein RS, Ghetti S, Quas JA, Goodman GS, Alexander KW, Redlich AD, Cordon IM. Person. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2005; 31(11): 1537-1548.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of California-Davis, CA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0146167205277095

PMID

16207772

Abstract

In the present study, attachment-related differences in long-term memory for a highly emotional life event, child sexual abuse (CSA), were investigated. Participants were 102 documented CSA victims whose cases were referred for prosecution approximately 14 years earlier. Consistent with the proposal that avoidant individuals defensively regulate the processing of potentially distressing information (Bowlby, 1980), attachment avoidance was negatively associated with memory for particularly severe CSA incidents. This finding was not mediated by the extent to which participants reported talking about the abuse after it occurred, although post abuse discussion did enhance long-term memory. In addition, accuracy was positively associated with maternal support following the abuse and extent of CSA-related legal involvement. Attachment anxiety was unrelated to memory accuracy, regardless of abuse severity. Implications of the findings for theories of avoidant defensive strategies and emotional memory are discussed.

Language: en