Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-02T17:46:30.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Overgeneral autobiographical memory bias in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Pamela Jacobsen Open the ORCID record for Pamela Jacobsen [Opens in a new window] ,
Emmanuelle Peters ,
Thomas Ward ,
Philippa A. Garety ,
Mike Jackson  and
Paul Chadwick
Pamela Jacobsen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK
Emmanuelle Peters
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Thomas Ward
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK
Philippa A. Garety
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Mike Jackson
Affiliation:
Bangor University, School of Psychology, North Wales, UK Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, North Wales, UK
Paul Chadwick*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), London, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Paul Chadwick, E-mail: paul.chadwick@kcl.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Hearing voices can be a distressing and disabling experience for some, whilst it is a valued experience for others, so-called ‘healthy voice-hearers’. Cognitive models of psychosis highlight the role of memory, appraisal and cognitive biases in determining emotional and behavioural responses to voices. A memory bias potentially associated with distressing voices is the overgeneral memory bias (OGM), namely the tendency to recall a summary of events rather than specific occasions. It may limit access to autobiographical information that could be helpful in re-appraising distressing experiences, including voices.

Methods

We investigated the possible links between OGM and distressing voices in psychosis by comparing three groups: (1) clinical voice-hearers (N = 39), (2) non-clinical voice-hearers (N = 35) and (3) controls without voices (N = 77) on a standard version of the autobiographical memory test (AMT). Clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers also completed a newly adapted version of the task, designed to assess voices-related memories (vAMT).

Results

As hypothesised, the clinical group displayed an OGM bias by retrieving fewer specific autobiographical memories on the AMT compared with both the non-clinical and control groups, who did not differ from each other. The clinical group also showed an OGM bias in recall of voice-related memories on the vAMT, compared with the non-clinical group.

Conclusions

Clinical voice-hearers display an OGM bias when compared with non-clinical voice-hearers on both general and voices-specific recall tasks. These findings have implications for the refinement and targeting of psychological interventions for psychosis.

Keywords

Auditory hallucinationsautobiographical memorycognitive behavioural therapypsychosis
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 113 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreasen, NC (1984) Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS). Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A, Thornton, A, Chua, SE and McKenna, P (1996) Schizophrenic delusions and the construction of autobiographical memory. In Rubin, DC (ed). Remembering Our Past: Studies in Autobiographical Memory. New York, NY, US: Cambridge University Press, pp. 384–428.Google Scholar
Baumeister, D, Sedgwick, O, Howes, O and Peters, E (2017) Auditory verbal hallucinations and continuum models of psychosis: a systematic review of the healthy voice-hearer literature. Clinical Psychology Review 51, 125–141.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P and Nayani, T (1995) The psychosis screening questionnaire. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 5, 11–19.Google Scholar
Beck, AT, Steer, RA and Brown, GK (1996) Beck Depression Inventory, 2nd edn., San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Berna, F, Potheegadoo, J, Aouadi, I, Ricarte, JJ, Allé, MC, Coutelle, R et al. (2016) A meta-analysis of autobiographical memory studies in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Schizophrenia Bulletin 42, 56–66.Google Scholar
Birchwood, M, Michail, M, Meaden, A, Tarrier, N, Lewis, S, Wykes, T et al. (2014) Cognitive behaviour therapy to prevent harmful compliance with command hallucinations (COMMAND): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry 1, 23–33.Google Scholar
Brett, C, Heriot-Maitland, C, McGuire, P and Peters, E (2014) Predictors of distress associated with psychotic-like anomalous experiences in clinical and non-clinical populations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 53, 213–227.Google Scholar
Brett, C, Peters, E, Johns, LC, Tabraham, P, Valmaggia, LR and McGuire, P (2007) Appraisals of anomalous experiences interview (AANEX): a multidimensional measure of psychological responses to anomalies associated with psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 191, S23–S30.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P and Birchwood, M (1994) The omnipotence of voices - a cognitive approach to auditory hallucinations. British Journal of Psychiatry 164, 190–201.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P and Birchwood, M (1995) The omnipotence of voices: II. The beliefs about voices questionnaire (BAVQ). The British Journal of Psychiatry 166, 773–776.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P, Sambrooke, S, Rasch, S and Davies, E (2000) Challenging the omnipotence of voices: group cognitive behavior therapy for voices. Behaviour Research and Therapy 38, 993–1003.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P, Strauss, C, Jones, AM, Kingdon, D, Ellett, L, Dannahy, L et al. (2016) Group mindfulness-based intervention for distressing voices: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Schizophrenia Research 175, 168–173.Google Scholar
Coid, JW, Kirkbride, JB, Barker, D, Cowden, F, Stamps, R, Yang, M et al. (2008) Raised incidence rates of all psychoses among migrant groups: findings from the east London first episode psychosis study. Archives of General Psychiatry 65, 1250–1258.Google Scholar
Conway, MA and Pleydell-Pearce, CW (2000) The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review 107, 261–288.Google Scholar
Daalman, K, Boks, MPM, Diederen, KMJ, de Weijer, AD, Blom, JD, Kahn, RS et al. (2011) The same or different? A phenomenological comparison of auditory verbal hallucinations in healthy and psychotic individuals. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 72, 320–325.Google Scholar
Daalman, K, Sommer, IEC, Derks, EM and Peters, ER (2013) Cognitive biases and auditory verbal hallucinations in healthy and clinical individuals. Psychological Medicine 43, 2339–2347.Google Scholar
Dixon, LB, Dickerson, F, Bellack, AS, Bennett, M, Dickinson, D, Goldberg, RW et al. Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (2010) The 2009 schizophrenia PORT psychosocial treatment recommendations and summary statements. Schizophrenia Bulletin 36, 48–70.Google Scholar
Garety, PA, Kuipers, E, Fowler, D, Freeman, D and Bebbington, PE (2001) A cognitive model of the positive symptoms of psychosis. Psychological Medicine 31, 189–195.Google Scholar
Gaynor, K, Ward, T, Garety, P, Peters, E, Gaynor, K, Ward, T et al. (2013) The role of safety-seeking behaviours in maintaining threat appraisals in psychosis. Behaviour Research and Therapy 51, 75–81.Google Scholar
Goddard, L, Dritschel, B and Burton, A (1996) Role of autobiographical memory in social problem solving and depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 105, 609–616.Google Scholar
Johns, LC, Kompus, K, Connell, M, Humpston, C, Lincoln, TM, Longden, E et al. (2014) Auditory verbal hallucinations in persons with and without a need for care. Schizophrenia Bulletin 40, S255–S264.Google Scholar
Kaney, S, Bowen-Jones, K and Bentall, RP (1999) Persecutory delusions and autobiographical memory. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 38, 97–102.Google Scholar
Kendler, KS, Ohlsson, H, Sundquist, J and Sundquist, K (2015) IQ and schizophrenia in a Swedish national sample: their causal relationship and the interaction of IQ with genetic risk. American Journal of Psychiatry 172, 259–265.Google Scholar
Khoury, B, Lecomte, T, Gaudiano, BA and Paquin, K (2013) Mindfulness interventions for psychosis: a meta-analysis. Schizophrenia Research 150, 176–184.Google Scholar
Kirkbride, JB, Errazuriz, A, Croudace, TJ, Morgan, C, Jackson, D, Boydell, J et al. (2012) Incidence of schizophrenia and other psychoses in England, 1950–2009: a systematic review and meta-analyses. PLoS ONE 7, e31660.Google Scholar
Landis, JR and Koch, GG (1977) An application of hierarchical kappa-type statistics in the assessment of majority agreement among multiple observers. Biometrics 33, 363–374.Google Scholar
Lopez-Navarro, E, Del Canto, C, Belber, M, Mayol, A, Fernandez-Alonso, O, Lluis, J et al. (2015) Mindfulness improves psychological quality of life in community-based patients with severe mental health problems: a pilot randomized clinical trial. Schizophrenia Research 168, 530–536.Google Scholar
Lovatt, A, Mason, O, Brett, C and Peters, E (2010) Psychotic-like experiences, appraisals, and trauma. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 198, 813–819.Google Scholar
Mason, O and Claridge, G (2006) The Oxford-liverpool inventory of feelings and experiences (O-LIFE): further description and extended norms. Schizophrenia Research 82, 203–211.Google Scholar
NICE (2014) Psychosis and schizophrenia in adults: prevention and management.Google Scholar
Peters, E, Ward, T, Jackson, M, Morgan, C, Charalambides, M, McGuire, P et al. (2016) Clinical, socio-demographic and psychological characteristics in individuals with persistent psychotic experiences with and without a ‘need for care’. World Psychiatry 15, 41–52.Google Scholar
Peters, E, Ward, T, Jackson, M, Woodruff, P, Morgan, C, McGuire, P et al. (2017) Clinical relevance of appraisals of persistent psychotic experiences in people with and without a need for care: an experimental study. Lancet Psychiatry 4, 927–936.Google Scholar
Peters, E, Williams, S, Cooke, M and Kuipers, E (2012) It's not what you hear, it's the way you think about it: appraisals as determinants of affect and behaviour in voice hearers. Psychological Medicine 42, 1507–1514.Google Scholar
Peters, ER, Moritz, S, Schwannauer, M, Wiseman, Z, Greenwood, KE, Scott, J et al. (2014) Cognitive biases questionnaire for psychosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin 40, 300–313.Google Scholar
Phelan, M, Slade, M, Thornicroft, G, Dunn, G, Holloway, F, Wykes, T et al. (1995) The camberwell assessment of need – the validity and reliability of an instrument to assess the needs of people with severe mental-illness. British Journal of Psychiatry 167, 589–595.Google Scholar
Ricarte, JJ, Hernandez, JV, Latorre, JM, Danion, JM and Berna, F (2014) Rumination and autobiographical memory impairment in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 160, 163–168.Google Scholar
Sayer, J, Ritter, S and Gournay, K (2000) Beliefs about voices and their effects on coping strategies. Journal of Advanced Nursing 31, 1199–1205.Google Scholar
Schmider, E, Ziegler, M, Danay, E, Beyer, L and Buhner, M (2010) Is it really robust? Reinvestigating the robustness of ANOVA against violations of the normal distribution assumption. Methodology-European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences 6, 147–151.Google Scholar
Underwood, R, Kumari, V and Peters, E (2016) Appraisals of psychotic experiences: an experimental investigation of symptomatic, remitted and non-need-for-care individuals. Psychological Medicine 46, 1249–1263.Google Scholar
van der Gaag, M, van Oosterhout, B, Daalman, K, Sommer, IE and Korrelboom, K (2012) Initial evaluation of the effects of competitive memory training (COMET) on depression in schizophrenia-spectrum patients with persistent auditory verbal hallucinations: a randomized controlled trial. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 51, 158–171.Google Scholar
Vorontsova, N, Garety, P and Freeman, D (2013) Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: the contribution of depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 122, 1121–1131.Google Scholar
Ward, T, Peters, E, Jackson, M, Day, F and Garety, PA (2018) Data-Gathering, belief flexibility, and reasoning across the psychosis continuum. Schizophrenia Bulletin 44, 126–136.Google Scholar
Ward, TA, Gaynor, KJ, Hunter, MD, Woodruff, PWR, Garety, PA and Peters, ER (2014) Appraisals and responses to experimental symptom analogues in clinical and nonclinical individuals With psychotic experiences. Schizophrenia Bulletin 40, 845–855.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D (1997) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd edn., San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Williams, J and Broadbent, K (1986) Autobiographical memory in suicide attempters. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95, 144–149.Google Scholar
Williams, JMG (1996) Autobiographical memory in depression. In Rubin, D (ed). Remembering Our Past: Studies in Autobiographical Memory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 244–267.Google Scholar
Williams, JMG, Barnhofer, T, Crane, C, Hermans, D, Raes, F, Watkins, E et al. (2007) Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychological Bulletin 133, 122–148.Google Scholar
Williams, JMG and Dritschel, BH (1992) Categoric and extended autobiographical memories. Theoretical Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory 65, 391–410.Google Scholar
Williams, JMG, Ellis, NC, Tyers, C, Healy, H, Rose, G and MacLeod, AK (1996) The specificity of autobiographical memory and imageability of the future. Memory & Cognition 24, 116–125.Google Scholar
Williams, JMG, Teasdale, JD, Segal, ZV and Soulsby, J (2000) Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 109, 150–155.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Jacobsen et al. supplementary material

Jacobsen et al. supplementary material 1

Download Jacobsen et al. supplementary material(File)
File 13.2 KB