Involuntary Memories of War-Related Scenes in Veterans With PTSD

TY - JOUR

T1 - Involuntary Memories of War-Related Scenes in Veterans With PTSD

AU - Staugaard, Søren Risløv

AU - Fuglsang, Annette Kjær

AU - Berntsen, Dorthe

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.

PY - 2021/9

Y1 - 2021/9

N2 - Studies suggest that general control deficits and elevated affect intensity in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) extend beyond memory for the index trauma. However, few researchers have pursued this possibility experimentally by examining memory for novel events. We used an experimental design to measure the frequency and characteristics of involuntary memories over time. Veterans with and without PTSD saw pictures of neutral and war-related scenes. Half of the participants completed an involuntary-retrieval task immediately after encoding, whereas the other half completed the retrieval task after 1 week. Veterans with PTSD had stronger emotional reactions to their involuntary memories of the scenes regardless of their original valence. The emotional impact and specificity of the memories did not diminish over time in PTSD veterans but did so in the control group. The findings are consistent with an increased emotional response to a range of memories that include—but are not limited to—memories of traumatic events.

AB - Studies suggest that general control deficits and elevated affect intensity in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) extend beyond memory for the index trauma. However, few researchers have pursued this possibility experimentally by examining memory for novel events. We used an experimental design to measure the frequency and characteristics of involuntary memories over time. Veterans with and without PTSD saw pictures of neutral and war-related scenes. Half of the participants completed an involuntary-retrieval task immediately after encoding, whereas the other half completed the retrieval task after 1 week. Veterans with PTSD had stronger emotional reactions to their involuntary memories of the scenes regardless of their original valence. The emotional impact and specificity of the memories did not diminish over time in PTSD veterans but did so in the control group. The findings are consistent with an increased emotional response to a range of memories that include—but are not limited to—memories of traumatic events.

KW - intrusions

KW - involuntary memory

KW - posttraumatic stress disorder

KW - trauma memory

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104449412&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/2167702621994544

DO - 10.1177/2167702621994544

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85104449412

SN - 2167-7026

VL - 9

SP - 919

EP - 931

JO - Clinical Psychological Science

JF - Clinical Psychological Science

IS - 5

ER -