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The Relationship Between Problem-Solving and Autobiographical Memory in Parasuicide Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Gary L. Sidley
Affiliation:
North Manchester General Hospital
Kim Whitaker
Affiliation:
Uiversity of Manchester
Rachel M. Calam
Affiliation:
Uiversity of Manchester
Adrian Wells
Affiliation:
Uiversity of Manchester

Abstract

The relationship between effectiveness of interpersonal problem-solving and specificity of autobiographical memory was examined for 35 patients admitted to an inner-city District General Hospital following a deliberate drug-overdose. The results replicated those of Evans, Williams, O'Loughlin and Howells (1992) in finding a significant correlation between ineffective problem-solving and the over-general retrieval of autobiographical memories, giving further support to the suggestion that an over-general memory database may underpin the problem-solving deficits characteristic of parasuicide patients. However, the correlation coefficient computed was notably lower than in the Evans et al. study and an attempt is made to explain this discrepancy on the basis of differences in the levels of psychopathology between the patients involved in each study.

Type
Brief Clinical Reports
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1997

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