Autobiographical memories of anxiety-related experiences.
Abstract
Ninety-nine undergraduate students retrieved three memories associated with each of
the five emotional experiences: panic, trauma, worry, social anxiety, and feeling
content. Subsequently, they answered 24 questions assessing properties of each memory,
including the vividness and perceived accuracy of the memories and sensory, emotional,
and anxiety-related experiences during retrieval. Memories were coded for affective
tone and specificity. Results indicated that panic-related and trauma-related memories
were rated similarly as content memories, but that they generally were associated
with more imagery and emotional experiencing than worry-related or social anxiety-related
memories. Participants experienced panic and worry symptoms to the greatest degree
when they retrieved panic-related and trauma-related memories. All anxiety-related
memories were characterized by more negative tone than content memories. Panic-related
and trauma-related memories were more specific than worry-related, social anxiety-related,
and content memories. These findings can explain partially why individuals with some,
but not all, anxiety disorders experience enhanced memory for threatening material.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AdultAffect
Anxiety Disorders
Eidetic Imagery
Emotions
Female
Humans
Male
Memory
Mental Recall
Perception
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10109Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/S0005-7967(03)00142-6Publication Info
Wenzel, Amy; Pinna, Keri; & Rubin, David C (2004). Autobiographical memories of anxiety-related experiences. Behav Res Ther, 42(3). pp. 329-341. 10.1016/S0005-7967(03)00142-6. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10109.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
More Info
Show full item recordScholars@Duke
David C. Rubin
Juanita M. Kreps Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
For .pdfs of all publications click here My main research interest has been in
long-term memory, especially for complex (or "real-world") stimuli. This work includes
the study of autobiographical memory

Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy
Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles