File(s) under permanent embargo
Reduced autobiographical memory specificity as a mediating factor between general anxiety symptoms and performance on problem-solving tasks
journal contribution
posted on 2018-09-01, 00:00 authored by David HallfordDavid Hallford, N Noory, David MellorDavid MellorThis study sought to further explain the association between general anxiety symptoms and impaired problem-solving by testing whether this occurs, in part, through a reduced ability to retrieve event-level, specific autobiographical memory (AM). Participants (N = 301; M age = 28.2 SD = 7.7, 55.8% female) completed assessments of the retrieval of specific AM, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and rumination. They then completed the Means-End Problem Solving Task, which assessed their ability to produce relevant problem-solving steps. Participants who were higher in anxiety reported a lesser number of relevant problem-solving steps, and this association was, in part, related to anxiety being associated with reduced AM specificity (after controlling for depressive symptoms). Rumination did not mediate anxiety and problem-solving, nor anxiety and AM specificity. These findings provide further evidence that elevated anxiety is associated with reduced ability to retrieve specific AM, and a specific cognitive pathway through which anxiety may affect problem-solving performance.
History
Journal
Applied cognitive psychologyVolume
32Issue
5Season
September/OctoberPagination
641 - 647Publisher
WileyLocation
Chichester, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
0888-4080eISSN
1099-0720Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2018, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC