ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2017
Rethinking a Negative Event: The Affective Impact of Ruminative versus Imagery-Based Processing of Aversive Autobiographical Memories.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Tell me all about it: Narrated memories are less emotional than imagined memories.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2023Trial
- Chilling and Blurring Negative Memories: An Experimental Memory Training Study.Basic and clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Effect of the emotional valence of autobiographical memory and parental bonding on depressive symptoms in a community sample.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Processing negative autobiographical memories in a foreign language.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Edge of the Present: A Virtual Reality Tool to Cultivate Future Thinking, Positive Mood and Wellbeing.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Chilling and Blurring Negative Memories: An Experimental Memory Training Study.Basic and clinical neuroscienceArticle
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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Abstract
introductionRuminative (abstract verbal) processing during recall of aversive autobiographical memories may serve to dampen their short-term affective impact. Experimental studies indeed demonstrate that verbal processing of non-autobiographical material and positive autobiographical memories evokes weaker affective responses than imagery-based processing. In the current study, we hypothesized that abstract verbal or concrete verbal processing of an aversive autobiographical memory would result in weaker affective responses than imagery-based processing.
methodsThe affective impact of abstract verbal versus concrete verbal versus imagery-based processing during recall of an aversive autobiographical memory was investigated in a non-clinical sample (
resultsMain findings were that higher levels of trait (but not state) measures of both ruminative and imagery-based processing and depressive symptomatology were positively correlated with higher levels of negative affective impact in the observational part of the study. In the experimental part, no main effect of processing modes on affective impact of autobiographical memories was found. However, a significant moderating effect of depressive symptomatology was found. Only for individuals with low levels of depressive symptomatology, concrete verbal (but not abstract verbal) processing of the aversive autobiographical memory did result in weaker affective responses, compared to imagery-based processing. DISCUSSION: These results cast doubt on the hypothesis that ruminative processing of aversive autobiographical memories serves to avoid the negative emotions evoked by such memories. Furthermore, findings suggest that depressive symptomatology is associated with the spontaneous use and the affective impact of processing modes during recall of aversive autobiographical memories. Clinical studies are needed that examine the role of processing modes during aversive autobiographical memory recall in depression, including the potential effectiveness of targeting processing modes in therapy.
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