Abstract
Memories recalled from the field, or first person, perspective tend to be specific, more detail-oriented, and emotional. In contrast, memories from the observer, or third person, perspective, tend to be more general, less detail-oriented and emotional. Research suggests that individuals with a history of suicidality exhibit over-general autobiographical memories (i.e., lacking in detail). We propose that individuals with a history of suicidality may encode and recall memories more from the observer perspective, which is associated with recalling fewer details about events. This hypothesis was tested by examining the memory perspectives of 107 young adults with and without symptoms of suicidality during task and event recall. Compared to controls, suicide attempters recalled tasks and neutral events significantly less from the observer perspective and more from the field perspective; suicide ideators and controls were not significantly different on recall perspectives. No significant differences in negative event and suicide attempt recall were found across groups. Results indicated that suicide attempters exhibited a recall bias towards first person, internally focused memories. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
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Notes
Analyses were conducted without controlling for covariates and the pattern of findings remained the same. Findings were presented with the inclusion of covariates for stringency and to highlight the significance of these findings above and beyond variables that are robust predictors of recall perspective and suicidality.
Of note, analyses were conducted with the outliers included and the pattern of findings remained the same.
The lack of gender biases in suicidality is notable. However, this sample consisted of young adults and some previous studies have failed to find gender differences for suicide attempts in young adulthood (Lewinsohn et al. 2001).
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Carol Chu, Jennifer M. Buchman-Schmitt and Thomas E. Joiner declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Chu, C., Buchman-Schmitt, J.M. & Joiner, T.E. Autobiographical Memory Perspectives in Task and Suicide Attempt Recall: A Study of Young Adults With and Without Symptoms of Suicidality. Cogn Ther Res 39, 766–775 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9704-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9704-6