Department of Educational Science, Hengyang Normal University, China.
Psychol Psychother. 2013 Dec;86(4):353-73. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.2012.02077.x. Epub 2012 Oct 12.
Previous studies on the autobiographical memory (AM) of depressed patients had inconsistent findings. Various severities of depression in patients in these studies may lead to conflicting results. However, the differences in the procedure of the autobiographical memory tests (AMTs) may also influence the AM results.
In this study, we analyse the results published so far to research the AM characteristics of patients with depressive disorders and identify moderators that affect the assessment results while using AMT in this field.
A systematic search was conducted using following databases: MEDLINE, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cnki, and Google Scholar, yielding 22 studies of patients with depressive disorders and autobiographical memory published between 1986 and 2010.
The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the control group, the patients with depressive disorders reported less specific AMs (g = -1.051) and more overgeneralized AMs (g = 1.115). The patients with depressive disorders also recalled more slowly (g = 0.400). The effect sizes of overgeneral memory could be predicted by the self-reported depression score of the depressed patients (B = -.329, p < .01). The mean effect sizes of AMT indices were affected by the AMT characteristics (i.e., number of cue word, max response time, prompting, presentation of cue word, taping, and so on).
Our results suggest that overgeneralization and response lag are the AM deficits in patients with depressive disorders. The parameters of AMT are important factors, which are related to the inconsistency in the assessment of AM in patients with depressive disorders. Some recommendations on AMT and programme research design are given for future research.
先前关于抑郁症患者自传体记忆（AM）的研究结果不一致。这些研究中患者的抑郁严重程度不同，可能导致结果相互矛盾。然而，自传体记忆测试（AMT）的程序差异也可能影响 AM 结果。
在本研究中，我们分析迄今为止发表的结果，以研究抑郁症患者的 AM 特征，并确定在该领域使用 AMT 评估时影响评估结果的调节因素。
使用 MEDLINE、PubMed、ScienceDirect、Cnki 和 Google Scholar 等数据库进行系统检索，检索了 1986 年至 2010 年间发表的 22 项关于抑郁症患者和自传体记忆的研究。
荟萃分析结果表明，与对照组相比，抑郁症患者报告的自传体记忆特异性较低（g=-1.051），过度概括性记忆较多（g=1.115）。抑郁症患者的记忆检索速度也较慢（g=0.400）。抑郁患者自我报告的抑郁评分可以预测过度概括记忆的效应大小（B=-.329，p<.01）。AMT 指数的平均效应大小受到 AMT 特征的影响（即，提示词数量、最大反应时间、提示、提示词呈现、录音等）。
我们的结果表明，过度概括和反应滞后是抑郁症患者的 AM 缺陷。AMT 的参数是重要因素，与抑郁症患者 AM 评估的不一致性有关。为未来的研究提供了一些关于 AMT 和方案研究设计的建议。
