Autobiographical memory in adult offspring of traumatized parents with and without posttraumatic stress symptoms

Charlotte E. Wittekind; Lena Jelinek; Steffen Moritz; Christoph Muhtz; Fabrice Berna

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2016.04.051

Autobiographical memory in adult offspring of traumatized parents with and without posttraumatic stress symptoms

Charlotte E. Wittekind^*, Lena Jelinek, Steffen Moritz, Christoph Muhtz, Fabrice Berna

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The present study examined potential transgenerational effects of trauma on autobiographical memory in adult offspring of elderly participants with and without PTSD symptoms who were exposed to an early trauma during childhood. As traumatization is associated with reduced memory specificity for past events, we hypothesized that offspring of traumatized parents might be exposed to a less elaborative narrative style, which, in turn, might result in less specific autobiographical memories in the offspring. Results show that autobiographical memory specificity did not differ significantly between adult offspring of traumatized elderly participants with PTSD symptoms, without PTSD symptoms, and non-traumatized elderly participants.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	311-314
Number of pages	4
Journal	Psychiatry Research
Volume	242
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.04.051
Publication status	Published - 30 Aug 2016
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Autobiographical memory
PTSD
Transgenerational

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10.1016/j.psychres.2016.04.051

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title = "Autobiographical memory in adult offspring of traumatized parents with and without posttraumatic stress symptoms",

abstract = "The present study examined potential transgenerational effects of trauma on autobiographical memory in adult offspring of elderly participants with and without PTSD symptoms who were exposed to an early trauma during childhood. As traumatization is associated with reduced memory specificity for past events, we hypothesized that offspring of traumatized parents might be exposed to a less elaborative narrative style, which, in turn, might result in less specific autobiographical memories in the offspring. Results show that autobiographical memory specificity did not differ significantly between adult offspring of traumatized elderly participants with PTSD symptoms, without PTSD symptoms, and non-traumatized elderly participants.",

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AU - Wittekind, Charlotte E.

AU - Jelinek, Lena

AU - Moritz, Steffen

AU - Muhtz, Christoph

AU - Berna, Fabrice

PY - 2016/8/30

Y1 - 2016/8/30

N2 - The present study examined potential transgenerational effects of trauma on autobiographical memory in adult offspring of elderly participants with and without PTSD symptoms who were exposed to an early trauma during childhood. As traumatization is associated with reduced memory specificity for past events, we hypothesized that offspring of traumatized parents might be exposed to a less elaborative narrative style, which, in turn, might result in less specific autobiographical memories in the offspring. Results show that autobiographical memory specificity did not differ significantly between adult offspring of traumatized elderly participants with PTSD symptoms, without PTSD symptoms, and non-traumatized elderly participants.

AB - The present study examined potential transgenerational effects of trauma on autobiographical memory in adult offspring of elderly participants with and without PTSD symptoms who were exposed to an early trauma during childhood. As traumatization is associated with reduced memory specificity for past events, we hypothesized that offspring of traumatized parents might be exposed to a less elaborative narrative style, which, in turn, might result in less specific autobiographical memories in the offspring. Results show that autobiographical memory specificity did not differ significantly between adult offspring of traumatized elderly participants with PTSD symptoms, without PTSD symptoms, and non-traumatized elderly participants.

KW - Autobiographical memory

KW - PTSD

KW - Transgenerational

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AN - SCOPUS:84974856158

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VL - 242

SP - 311

EP - 314

JO - Psychiatry Research

JF - Psychiatry Research

ER -

Autobiographical memory in adult offspring of traumatized parents with and without posttraumatic stress symptoms

Abstract

Keywords

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