Memory performance among women with parental abuse histories: Enhanced directed forgetting or directed remembering?

Abstract

Performance on a directed forgetting task was assessed in 24 individuals with borderline personality disorder and early life parental abuse, 24 borderline individuals with no history of abuse, and 24 healthy nonclinical controls under conditions of explicit and implicit memory. In the explicit memory condition, individuals with abuse histories showed greater differential recall of "to-be-remembered" versus "to-be-forgotten" material compared to the 2 comparison groups. Implicit memory performance was equivalent for all 3 groups. The enhanced selective memory in the abused group was the result of better recall for "remember" and not poorer recall for "forget" information, indicating that abused individuals have an enhanced ability to sustain attention to designated "remember" information. Because most people with childhood abuse recall their abuse, enhanced remembering of designated events (e.g., information not associated with abuse) may be a coping strategy.