ArticleJournal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry2020
Effects of processing positive memories on posttrauma mental health: A preliminary study in a non-clinical student sample.
Article in Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of savoring interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Pooled it
- Comparison of the processing of positive memories technique and supportive counseling for posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Trial
- Impacts of repeated retrieval of positive and neutral memories on posttrauma health: An investigative pilot study.Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry · 2023Trial
- Therapeutic impacts of recalling and processing positive autobiographical memories on posttrauma health: An open-label study.Journal of traumatic stress · 2025Article
- Multidimensional Emotional Disorder Inventory: reliability and validity in a Colombian non-clinical sample.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2024Article
- Study protocol and rationale for a pilot randomized clinical trial comparing processing of positive memories technique with supportive counseling for PTSD.Contemporary clinical trials · 2024Article
- The Effects of the Processing of Positive Memories Technique on Posttrauma Affect and Cognitions Among Survivors of Trauma: Protocol for a Daily Diary Study.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Beyond trauma: a review of content and linguistic characteristics of nontrauma narratives in posttraumatic stress disorder.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Review
- Open Label Pilot Study on Posttrauma Health Impacts of the Processing of Positive Memories Technique (PPMT).Journal of psychotherapy integration · 2023Article
- Relations Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Positive Memory Characteristics Among Women Reporting Intimate Partner Violence: A Micro-Longitudinal Study.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2023Article
- Do positive memory characteristics influence daily-level trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms? an exploratory daily diary study.Anxiety, stress, and coping · 2023Article
- Associations between positive memory count and hazardous substance use in a trauma-exposed sample: Examining the moderating role of emotion dysregulation.Journal of clinical psychology · 2023Article
- Positive Affect Processes and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: Findings from an Open Label and Uncontrolled Pilot Study using the Positive Memory Processing Technique.Journal of psychotherapy integration · 2023Article
- Factors Related to Positive Memory Count Among Trauma-Exposed Individuals: A Scoping Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2022Article
- Mental health education on college students' english vocabulary memorization from the perspective of STEAM education.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Critical considerations for the positive memory-posttraumatic stress disorder model.Clinical psychology & psychotherapy · 2022Review
- Positive Internal Experiences in PTSD Interventions: A Critical Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2022Review
- Moderating effects of sleep difficulties on relations between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and positive memory count.Journal of clinical psychology · 2021Article
- Processing of Positive Memories Technique (PPMT) for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Primer.Journal of psychotherapy integration · 2021Article
- Moderating effects of dysregulation and fear of positive emotions on the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and positive memory count.Journal of clinical psychology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesAlthough trauma research and therapy primarily focus on traumatic memories, recent evidence indicates positive memory processes play a role in the etiology/maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. We examined the effects of a novel positive memory processing technique on PTSD symptom severity, depression symptom severity, affect, posttrauma cognitions, and self-esteem.
methodsSixty-five trauma-exposed participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (narrating/processing vs. writing/processing two specific positive memories, or a time-matched control) and completed self-report measures pre- and post-task (T0). About one week later, participants repeated their assigned task condition and completed self-report measures pre- and post-task (T1). We conducted mixed ANOVAs to examine the impact of the technique on study variables over time.
resultsThe narrating condition had significant decreases in PTSD symptom severity, posttrauma cognitions, and negative affect from T0 pre-task to T1 post-task; and significant increases in positive affect from T0 pre-to-post-task and from T1 pre-to-post-task. The writing condition had significant increases in positive affect from T0 pre-to-post-task, but a significant decrease from T0 post-task to T1 post-task; and significant decreases in negative affect from T0 pre-to-post-task with an increase from T0 post-task to T1 post-task. LIMITATIONS: Use of self-report measures, non-clinical convenience sample with less gender/ethnic/racial diversity, small sample size, methodological differences in time frames for measures, and no examination of follow-up effects.
conclusionsNarrating and processing specific positive memories had a beneficial impact on PTSD symptom severity, posttrauma maladaptive cognitions, and affect; such results provide an impetus to examine positive memory interventions in trauma clinical work.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.