Summary: Researchers found that adolescents who could recall specific positive memories experienced fewer negative self-related thoughts and lower morning cortisol levels one year later. The findings suggest that recalling detailed positive experiences during adolescence may reduce vulnerability to depression over time.
Source: University of Cambridge.
Recalling positive events and personal experiences can strengthen resilience against depression in young people, according to new research from the University of Cambridge.
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting more than 300 million people. The condition frequently first appears during adolescence, a period when the brain undergoes major structural and chemical changes. Exposure to early life stress—such as illness, parental separation or bereavement, or difficult family circumstances—is a well-established risk factor for later depressive disorders.
“Mental health disorders that first occur in adolescence are more severe and more likely to recur in later life,” says Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, the study’s senior author. “With child and adult mental health services underfunded and overstretched, it is critical to identify practical ways to build resilience, particularly in adolescents who are at higher risk of depression.”
Remembering past events is a common part of everyday life. People often reminisce to lift their mood or to make sense of difficult experiences. A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and University College London investigated whether the ability to recall specific positive memories could help protect adolescents from the harmful effects of stress and reduce their risk of developing depression.
The study followed 427 adolescents from Cambridge and the surrounding area, with an average age of 14, all identified as being at increased risk for depression because of earlier life stress. The researchers measured how well participants could recall specific positive memories and then examined two markers of vulnerability to depression: the frequency of negative self-related thoughts and morning cortisol levels, a hormone linked to stress. The full study is reported in Nature Human Behaviour.
At baseline, participants completed a cued recall Autobiographical Memory Test. They were presented with single words—either positive or negative cues—and asked to describe a specific memory tied to each cue. Previous research shows that people with depression tend to retrieve more general or overgeneral memories rather than distinct, detailed recollections.
In addition, participants took part in a semi-structured interview about the number and severity of negative life events over the previous 12 months. They also self-reported symptoms of depression and the presence of negative self-related thoughts during the prior two weeks. The same interview measures were repeated 12 months later. To assess physiological stress responses, saliva samples were collected across four days at both the start of the study and one year later to measure morning cortisol.
The researchers found that adolescents who were better able to retrieve specific positive memories at the start of the study had fewer negative self-related thoughts and lower morning cortisol levels one year later. In other words, greater specificity when recalling positive events predicted a reduction in two key indicators of depressive vulnerability over time.
Further analyses indicated that the protective effect of recalling specific positive memories was particularly relevant when adolescents experienced stressful life events during the follow-up year. Positive memory specificity reduced the likelihood of developing negative self-related thoughts and depressive symptoms in response to those stressors. However, for adolescents who did not encounter stressful life events in the year that followed, positive memory specificity did not appear to alter depressive outcomes.
“Our work suggests that ‘remembering the good times’ may help build resilience to stress and reduce vulnerability to depression in young people,” says Adrian Dahl Askelund, the study’s lead author. “Importantly, previous research shows people can be trained to retrieve specific positive memories, which points to a feasible intervention that could support adolescents at risk of depression.”
Funding: The research was supported by the Aker Scholarship, the Royal Society and Wellcome.
Source: Craig Brierley – University of Cambridge
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image credit: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original research: The study “Positive memory specificity is associated with reduced vulnerability to depression” was authored by Adrian Dahl Askelund, Susanne Schweizer, Ian M. Goodyer and Anne-Laura van Harmelen and published in Nature Human Behaviour on January 14, 2019. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0504-3.
Positive memory specificity is associated with reduced vulnerability to depression
Depression is the leading cause of disability globally, and exposure to early life stress increases the risk of developing depression later. Early stress may sensitize the developing psychophysiological stress system, making individuals more reactive to later life stressors. Activating positive memories has been shown to lower cortisol responses and improve mood in humans, and to reduce depression-like behaviours in animal models. In this longitudinal study of 427 adolescents aged 14 with a history of early life stress, path modelling showed that the ability to recall specific positive memories predicted lower morning cortisol and fewer negative self-cognitions during low mood over one year. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that positive memory specificity was associated with lower depressive symptoms indirectly through reduced negative self-cognitions following negative life events during the study interval. These findings suggest that recalling specific positive experiences may act as a resilience factor that decreases depressive vulnerability among adolescents with prior early life stress.
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