Biomedical subjects

J Mark G Williams

Publications and source records attributed to J Mark G Williams.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder.

The authors review research showing that when recalling autobiographical events, many emotionally disturbed patients summarize categories of events rather than retrieving a single episode. The mechanisms underlying such overgeneral memory are examined, with a focus on M. A. Conway and C. W. Pleydell-Pearce's (2000) hierarchical search model of personal event retrieval. An elaboration of this model is proposed to account for overgeneral memory, focusing on how memory search can be affected by (a) capture and rumination processes, when mnemonic information used in retrieval activates ruminative thinking; (b) functional avoidance, when episodic material threatens to cause affective disturbance; and (c) impairment in executive capacity and control that limits an individual's ability to remain focused on retrieval in the face of distraction.

Autobiographies as Topic↗

PubMed2006

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of recurrence of suicidal behavior.

Once suicidal thoughts have emerged as a feature of depression they are likely to be reactivated as part of a suicidal mode of mind whenever sad mood reappears. This article reviews the methods and the usefulness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as a treatment for the prevention of the reactivation of the suicidal mode. MBCT integrates mindfulness meditation practices and cognitive therapy techniques. It teaches participants to develop moment-by-moment awareness, approaching ongoing experience with an attitude of nonjudgment and acceptance. Participants are increasingly able to see their thoughts as mental events rather than facts (metacognitive awareness). A case example illustrates how mindfulness skills develop with MBCT and how they relate to the cognitive processes that fuel suicidal crises. An ongoing controlled trial will provide further evidence, but pilot work suggests that MBCT is a promising intervention for those who have experienced suicidal ideation in the past.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Autobiographical memory in the euthymic phase of recurrent depression.

The authors investigated autobiographical memory specificity in subjects who formerly had depression. In 122 euthymic patients with at least two previous major depressive episodes, memory specificity was significantly impaired compared to matched control participants but not related to residual symptoms and illness characteristics, was not differentially affected by cognitive therapy, and was also not predictive of relapse/recurrence during the 2-year follow-up. However, memory specificity was associated with age, education, and immediate and delayed memory recall. The results suggest that memory specificity may reflect a global cognitive impairment that remains in patients who (formerly) had depression but does not constitute a trait marker for vulnerability for relapse/recurrence.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Reduced autobiographical memory specificity and rumination in predicting the course of depression.

Reduced autobiographical memory (AM) specificity is a known vulnerability factor for depression. AM specificity was investigated as a predictor of depression with the Autobiographical Memory Test (J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986). When baseline depression scores were partialed, reduced AM specificity to negative cue words predicted higher levels of depression at 7-month follow-up. Once rumination was taken into account by means of the Rumination on Sadness Scale (M. Conway, P. A. R. Csank, S. L. Holm, & C. K. Blake, 2000), AM specificity no longer predicted depression, suggesting that the predictive value of AM specificity observed in previous studies might be--at least partly--explained as an effect of rumination. Further mediation analyses indeed revealed support for rumination as a mediator of the relation between reduced AM specificity and poor outcome of depression.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Is overgeneral autobiographical memory an isolated memory phenomenon in major depression?

The present study explored the relation between overgeneral autobiographical memory (AM) and other aspects of memory functioning in depression. A total of 26 patients with major depressive disorder completed a set of memory tasks measuring AM specificity (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986), working memory, semantic memory, verbal learning, delayed verbal recall, recognition memory, and source memory. Reduced specificity of AM was related to poor working memory (central executive functioning) and poor source memory. The former finding conforms to the idea that the voluntary retrieval of specific autobiographical memories (AMs) involves central executive processes (e.g., Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). The latter finding replicates and extends recent findings suggesting that overgeneral AM is part of a broader memory deficit in retrieving the specific details of the context in which information was acquired (Ramponi, Barnard, & Nimmo-Smith, 2004). Furthermore, in line with Ramponi et al. (2004), rumination was found to be related to both overgeneral AM and poor source memory.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Negative bias in the perception of others' facial emotional expressions in major depression: the role of depressive rumination.

Depressed individuals display a negative bias in the perception of others' facial emotional expressions. The extent of this selective processing, moreover, has proven predictive of a poor outcome in depression. However, to date, little is known about the possible mechanisms that may account for this bias. This study examined the hypothesis that rumination--an analytical type of self-focused attention--would be associated with higher levels of perception of negative facial emotions in major depression. Twenty-six depressed patients (17 women) completed the Perception of Facial Expressions Questionnaire, the Ruminative Response Scale, and other measures assessing depression-related constructs. Consistent with prediction, rumination was positively related to a negative bias in the judgment of facial expressions, even when controlling for other depression-related variables. Although the correlational design of the present study limits the extent to which conclusions can be drawn on the directionality of the observed relationship, the present study reveals self-focused rumination as a possibly important causal mechanism in explaining depressed persons' negative bias in the perception of others' facial emotions.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Reduced specificity of autobiographical memory: a mediator between rumination and ineffective social problem-solving in major depression?

BACKGROUND: Depressed individuals display a deficit in effectively solving social problem situations (e.g., []). Recent research suggests that rumination may interfere with such effective problem-solving (e.g., []). However, little is known, as yet, about the mechanisms that are underlying this relation between rumination and poor problem-solving. The present study investigated the role of reduced specificity of autobiographical memories as a mediator of this relationship. METHODS: 24 depressed patients (15 women) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Task (MEPS), the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS) and the Rumination on Sadness Scale (RSS). RESULTS: Consistent with previous studies, rumination, ineffective problem-solving and reduced memory specificity were significantly associated. Regression analyses further extended these findings by showing that reduced memory specificity mediated the association between rumination and problem-solving effectiveness. LIMITATIONS: The correlational nature of this study limits to some extent the conclusions that can be drawn on the directionality of the observed relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Results offer support for the idea that lack of autobiographical memory specificity mediates the known relationship between rumination and poor problem-solving.

Autobiographies as Topic↗

PubMed2005

Problem solving deteriorates following mood challenge in formerly depressed patients with a history of suicidal ideation.

The authors divided 34 participants who had a history of depression into 2 groups, those having previous suicidal ideation or behavior (n=19) and those having no such symptoms (n=15), then compared the 2 groups with a group of participants who had no history of depression (n=22). Assessment of interpersonal problem-solving performance using the Means-Ends Problem-Solving (MEPS) task before and after a mood-induction procedure showed that only those formerly depressed people with a history of suicidal ideation shifted in MEPS performance, producing significantly less effective problem solutions following mood challenge, consistent with a differential activation account of vulnerability for recurrence of suicidal ideation and behavior. The deterioration in effectiveness following mood challenge was moderated by lack of specificity in autobiographical memory.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional abuse.

OBJECTIVE: Examined the relationship between trauma and memory specificity and the importance in this of level of support received. METHOD: Fifty-two female undergraduates completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams and Broadbent, 1986), assessing memory specificity and the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC; Nijenhuis, Van der Hart, and Vanderlinden, 1999), assessing qualitative aspects of trauma. RESULTS: In low-specific students, those who reported emotional abuse were less specific in their memory. The scores of students who had not received any support for the abuse showed a trend towards retrieval of less specific memories, as compared with those who had received support. CONCLUSION: Results provide evidence for an association between trauma (emotional abuse) and reduced memory specificity, and suggest that receiving support following the abuse might protect individuals from developing over-general memory.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Reduced autobiographical memory specificity as an avoidant coping style.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies suggest that reduced autobiographical memory specificity might serve as a way of regulating affect. This study examined the relationship between autobiographical memory specificity and avoidant coping. METHOD: Sixty students completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Different types of avoidant coping were assessed using questionnaires: the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, the Cognitive-Behavioural Avoidance Scale and the White Bear Suppression Inventory. RESULTS: For all questionnaires, a significant correlation was observed between the number of specific responses on the AMT and an avoidant coping style. More avoidance was associated with fewer specific answers. These correlations remained when corrected for number of omissions. CONCLUSION: The results provide further evidence for the affect-regulating quality of autobiographical memory specificity.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Teasdale's differential activation hypothesis: implications for mechanisms of depressive relapse and suicidal behaviour.

Teasdale's differential activation hypothesis (DAH) has been proposed as one account of cognitive vulnerability to depression. This view holds that important factors determining whether one's initial depression becomes more severe or persistent are the degree of activation, and content, of negative thinking patterns that become accessible in the depressed state. This phenomenon has been referred to as cognitive reactivity. Empirical support for the predictions of this model derives from a combination of cross-sectional and prospective studies. In this article, we evaluate this evidence with the goal of determining whether mood-induced cognitive reactivity can be considered a risk factor for depressive relapse/recurrence. Our review demonstrates sufficient evidence to consider cognitive reactivity as a potential causal risk factor for depressive relapse/recurrence. Furthermore, we extend the application of this model to the problem of suicidal relapse/recurrence including a review of preliminary support for this approach.

Cognition Disorders↗

PubMed2004

The use of mindfulness-based approaches for suicidal patients.

Mindfulness-based approaches are becoming more widely used for individuals at risk of suicidal behavior: in the treatment of borderline personality disorder (in Dialectical Behavior Therapy), and as a way to reduce relapse in recurrent major depression (in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy). This article describes and examines the commonalities and differences in the use of mindfulness in these two treatments. The reasons for considering the use of mindfulness-based approaches with suicidal individuals more widely are considered and potential risks outlined. The article closes with case examples to illustrate the use of mindfulness in the treatment of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Impairments in working memory associated with naturalistic dieting in women: no relationship between task performance and urinary 5-HIAA levels.

The present study investigated the question of whether the previously observed impairments of working memory characteristic of dieting to lose weight can be explained in terms of preoccupying cognitions relating to body shape or to alterations in serotonergic function resulting from a low dietary intake of tryptophan. The population comprised female non-dieting, lower restrained eaters (N=23), non-dieting higher restrained eaters (N=11) and current dieters (N=19). Each participant completed three tasks, each of which selectively loaded on to a different sub-component of working memory. The tasks comprised the Tower of London task, a letter string recall task and a mental rotation task. In addition, all participants completed self-report measures of body shape concern and affective state. Serotonin turnover was assessed by means of 24 h urine sample collection for each participant on their day of testing. This was analysed (via HPLC) for levels of the main serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA.The results of the present study broadly replicated previous findings of a Central Executive and Phonological Loop (but not Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad) deficit in those subjects who reported themselves to be currently dieting. Tower of London task performance also significantly correlated with self-reported feelings of fatness and body shape disparagement. There were no group differences in 5-HIAA levels nor did 5-HIAA levels correlate with task performance. However, there was a significant negative correlation between 5-HIAA levels and self-reported depression. These results support the hypothesis that the variables mediating this deficit are preoccupying cognitions concerning body shape. They do not support the hypothesis that the serotonergic function of dieters is compromised, although this conclusion is tentative.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Autobiographical memory specificity and affect regulation: an experimental approach.

This study investigated J. M. G. Williams's (1996) affect-regulation hypothesis that level of specificity of autobiographical memory (AM) is used to minimize negative affect. It was found that a negative event leads to more reports of subjective stress in high- as compared with low-specific participants. Also, afterward, high-specific participants rated their unprompted memories for the event as more unpleasant. The results indicate that, relative to high specificity, being less specific in the retrieval of AMs is associated with less affective impact of a negative event. Results are discussed within the affect-regulation model. It is suggested that future research take a more functional perspective on AM specificity.

Adolescent↗