Examining the Impact of Guided Memory Retrieval on Intrusive Memories: An Online Trauma Film Paradigm Study

Abstract

Intrusive memories are a cardinal symptom of chronic post-traumatic mental health problems (e.g., Brewin et al., 2010). Post-event memory processing may be a key facilitator of remission of intrusive memories (Marks et al., 2018). Contextual processing has been proposed to decrease unwanted distressing memories (e.g., Besnard & Sahay, 2016). In this study (N = 87), participants viewed a distressing film, following which memory retrieval of context, gist, or film-independent information was experimentally manipulated via text-message. Both context and gist retrieval facilitated decreased intrusion distress (d = 0.17, p = .03; d = 0.17, p = .005) and vividness (d = 0.16, p = .046; d = 0.17, p = .005) over a three day follow-up relative to the control condition. This study highlights the potential adaptive role of post-event retrieval processing following trauma and is the first to investigate the role of context in memory retrieval, rather than encoding. Implications for early intervention development are discussed.