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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 11, 1537-1548 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167205277095
© 2005 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Individual Differences in Emotional Memory: Adult Attachment and Long-Term Memory for Child Sexual Abuse

Robin S. Edelstein

University of California–Davis

Simona Ghetti

University of California–Davis; National Research Council, Bologna, Italy

Jodi A. Quas

University of California–Irvine

Gail S. Goodman

University of California–Davis; University of Oslo, Center for Advanced Study, Norwegian National Academy of Science and Letters

Kristen Weede Alexander

California State University, Sacramento

Allison D. Redlich

Policy Research Associates, Inc., Delmar, New York

Ingrid M. Cordón

University of Minnesota

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 postabuse 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.

Key Words: attachment • emotion • memory • individual differences • child sexual abuse


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R. S. Edelstein and O. Gillath
Avoiding Interference: Adult Attachment and Emotional Processing Biases
Pers Soc Psychol Bull, February 1, 2008; 34(2): 171 - 181.
[Abstract] [PDF]