EFTA00159901.pdf

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Research Article Traumatic Impact Predicts Long- Term Memory for Documented Child Sexual Abuse Kristen Weede Alexander,' Jodi A. Quas,2 Gail S. GotsImams Simone Gheiti," Robin S. Edelstein,3 Allison D. ReAllich,3 Ingrid M. Cordon,3 and David P.H. Jones(' ! California State University; Sacramento; 2Univenity of California, Irvine; 'University of California, Davis; 4Research Institute on. Judicial Systems, National Research Council, Bologna, Italy; sPolicy Research Associates, Inc., Delmar, Nev York; and 6University of Oxford, Park Hospitalfor Children, Oxford, England ABSTRACT—Prospective studies of adults' memories of We specifically sought to examine how reactions to trauma documented child sexual abuse (CSA) reveal that the (i.e., trauma symptoms. cog ,e appraisals) affect memory (see majority of individuals remember their victimization. also Williams. 1995). Reganling trauma symptoms. much cur- However. the accuracy of these memories has rarely been rent interest focuses on memory functioning in relation to investigated scientifically. The present study examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; McNally. 2003), a psy- predictors ofmemory accuracy and errors 12 to 21 years chopathology that is defined by anxiety and memory problems after abuse ended for individuals with legal experiences (Sullivan & Cowan, 2002) and is a possible sequela of CSA resultingfrom documented CSA. Severity ofposttraumatic (Browne & Finkelhor. 1986). Research suggests that trauma stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology was positively survivors, especially those with PTSD, overattend to trauma- associated with memory accuracy. However, individuals related cues (e.g., for rape victims, the wont rape on the mod- nominating CSA as their most traumatic life event exhib- ified Stroop test; e.g., Field et al.. 2001: Foa. Feske, Murdock, itedrelatively accurate memory regardless ofindicators of Kozak. & !McCarthy. 1991) and evince heightened memory and PTSD. Predictors of memory errors were also identified reduced forgetting of trauma-related words (e.g., Amir. Mc- (e.g., less maternal support). These results indicate that, Nally. & Wiegartz. 1996: McNally. Metzger, Lasko, Clancy. & in addition to understanding the role of traditional cog- Pitman. 1998: Paunovic, Lunclh, & Oest. 2002). nitivefactors, understanding an event's traumatic impact One possible explanation of such findings is that traumatized is important for predicting the accuracy of long-term individuals, especially those with PTSD. develop semantic memory for reported CSA. networks ("fear networks") within which trauma-related infor- mation becomes stored (e.g.. Foa, Steketee, & Rothbaum, 1989; but see Foe & Riggs. 1993, and for review, Dalgleish. 2004). Although research has focused on forgetting of child sexual These networks may predispose traumatized individuals to be abuse (CSA), virtually no studies have examined the accuracy of hypervigilant to trauma-related information and retain it par- long-term memory for such trauma among adults who remember ticularly well. These networks could also affect retention of the being victimized. We conducted a longitudinal study involving original trauma (e.g.. by fostering greater rehearsal) and influ- victims of documented and prosecuted GSA to investigate, ence memory for similar experiences or traumatic events gen- prospectively, the accuracy of long-term memory of sexual erally (e.g., by activation of related nodes in memory). abuse in childhood. Accordingly, one might predict that abused individuals, espe- cially those who exhibit high levels of PTSD symptomatology. Address correspondence to Gail S. Goodman. Department of Pm.. have robust CSA memories. despite findings that link trauma chology. One Shields Ave.. University of California. Da via. CA 95616. backgrounds with information processing deficits for non- ggoodmanenctlavis.edu. or to Jodi (inns. Department of Psychology and Social Behavior. University of California. Irvine. CA trauma-related infommtion (e.g.. Ike r. Shobe. & Kililstmni. 92697. e-mail: Mnarlitori.mlu. 2000: Edwank. Finsh. Anda. Felitii. & Node berg, 2001: Volume 16—Banta I C.000,0i t 2015 Anwritan No. 6,4opgal Society 33 3534-009 Page 1 of 8 EFTA_00010253 EFTA00159901  Memory for Child Sexual Abuse Hunter & Andrews, 2002; McNally, Lasko, Macklin, & Pitman. intrafamilial abuse) may be associated with a detailed knowl- 1995: cf. Metcalfe & Jacobs, 2000. reganling "hot" and "cold" edge base, which may support memory. Thus, relationship memory systems). variables must he considered, despite the unclear direction of Independent of potential effects of PTSD symptomatology on their effects. memory of C.SA, cognitive appraisals of distressing events may Factors that are not necessarily related to trauma but affect also affect CSA memories. Events appraised as highly negative long-term retention (e.g., age, delay) also likely influence are remembered especially well (e.g., Bennsett, 2002), pethaps memory of CSA. Older children provide more accurate and because of their salience or distinctiveness. They may activate complete memory reports than do younger children (e.g., Quas physiological (e.g., amygrIala; LeDoux, 2000) and behavioral et al., 1999), which suggests that children who were older when (e.g., rehearsal; Christianson, 1992) responses that help con- the abuse ended may have more accurate long-term memories solidate or maintain memories, possibly including memories for than children who were younger. Additionally, delay often whole categories of experiences. Moreover, for highly negative heralds forgetting; a shorter delay between the event and incidents, information directly related to the cause of the stress memory interview should engender better memory. Further- is prioritized in memory, with such information often retained more, compared with females, males may be less likely to dis- better the greater the distress (Christianson, 1992); this relation close CSA (e.g., Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis, & Smith, 1990; between memory and distress implies that increased severity of Widom & Morris, 1997; but see Goodman et al., 2003) and may CSA would result in more accurate memory for main features have less detailed autobiographical memories about emotional of the abuse. Thus, overall, although alternative hypotheses events (Davis, 1999). If males are hesitant to talk about CSA, exist (e.g., traumatic reactions and negative appraisals could their memory of it might fade over the years. In the present overwhelm coping abilities or activate defense mechanisms, study, memory accuracy was considered in light of these pos- leaving victims with reduced or distorted processing of sible influences. CSA experiences; Ten, 1991: van der Kolk, 1997), there is reason to predict that individuals who appraise their CSA as a THE PRESENT STUDY particularly traumatic experience would remember it well, es- pecially if they evince high levels of FISH symptomatology, and Our goal was to examine the accuracy of adolescents' and young further that more seven• abuse would result in better CSA adults' memory for CSA that ended 12 to 21 years previously. memory. We hypothesized that individuals displaying more vrsu In addition to the aforementioned trauma-specific factors, symptomatology and reporting CSA as their most traumatic life numerous factors correlated with trauma undoubtedly affect event would exhibit better memory for the abuse than individ- memory. Thus, the impact of trauma must be considered in the uals displaying less PTSD symptomatology and reporting an- context of other potentially important variables. Increased se- other event as their most traumatic experience. Further, verity of CSA may result in increased trauma, but severity can increased abuse severity, greater maternal support, more ex- comprise such factors as duration and frequency, which them- tensive legal involvement, older age when the abuse ended, selves may affect memory accuracy independently of traumatic shorter delay, and being female were expected to make inde- impact. Moreover, severe abuse is often aggressively prose- pendent contributions to memory accuracy. cuted. Insofar as extensive legal involvement results in elab- orative rehearsal, greater stress, and a more distinct experience, children with extensive legal involvement may remember their METHOD CSA experiences particularly well. Another set of variables potentially correlated with trauma Participants and Procedure concerns interpersonal relationships. Close relationship to the Participants had been involved during the 1980s in a study of perpetrator is associated with lack of maternal support when the short-term effects of criminal prosecutions on GSA victims child victims disclose their abuse (Everson, Hunter, Runyon, (Goodman et al., 1992). In that study. detailed information was Edelsohn, & Coulter, 1989). To the extent that unsupportive collected on two hundred seventeen 3- to 17-year-olds' back- mothers talk less often with their children about the CSA than grounds. mental health, and abuse and legal experiences.' The supportive mothers do or fail to legitimate their children's al- data included demographic information (e.g.. ethnicity. socio- legations, long-term memory may be adversely affected economic status), ratings of the children's behavioral adjust- (Goodman, Quas, Battentran-Faunce, Riddlesberger, & Kuhn, ment at the outset of prosecution (i.e., Achenbach's. 1991, Child 1994; Haden, Mayne, & Fivush, 1997). Furthermore, individ- Behavior Checklist. or Gael.), information about the abuse uals abused by an emotionally close caregiver may feel espe- (e.g., victim-perpetrator relationship, abuse duration). and facts cially betrayed (Freyd, 1996). Such feelings may reduce the 'One participant from the original mudy M a 2181isnot included because the clarity and accessibility of memories (e.g., through cognitive defendant ma% out t years older. a neve-nary element of the crime for prose- avoidance). However, a close relationship to the abuser (e.g., cution. 34 Volume In—Number I 3534-009 Page 2 of 8 EFTA_00010254 EFTA00159902  LW. Alexander ri al. related to the children's legal experiences (e.g., extent of legal TABLE 1 involvement).2 Characteristics of the Sample Ten to 16 years following the original study, when participants Variable SD Range were adolescents and young adults, they were recontacted to join a study of attitudes toward and experiences with the legal Victim's age at end of abuse' 9.88 3.38 3-16 system. The follow-up was conducted in three phases: (a) Phase Victim's age at police report' 10.23 3.51 3-17 Victim's age at Phase 3* 24.23 3.55 17-31 1 was conducted via telephone interview, (b) Phase 2 was Delay' 14.34 1.41 12-21 conducted via mailed questionnaires, and (c) Phase 3 was Socioeconomic MMus' 4.88 1.69 1-7 conducted via in-person interview. Exceptions to interview Victim's relations/tip to perpetrator' 2.76 0.90 1-4 format were made as necessary (e.g., for participants lacking Abuse seventy" 4.81 1.80 2-9 telephones, Phase I was conducted via mail or in-person in- Abuse frequency( 1.88 0.89 1-3 terview). For scientific and ethical reasons, participants were Legal involvements 2.13 0.81 1-3 Maternal support" .91 .28 0-1 not told of the researchers' knowledge of the sample's past Number of posurauniatie stress victimization, legal involvement. or participation in the original disorder criteria met 3.6.5 1.95 0-6 study. Interviewers were blind to individual participants' prior experiences. In each phase, information about the participants' 'Ages are reported in years. Itelay is the number of seam between the err- station of alone and the Phase 3 interview. lillti0001/1101100 /011111,1 high. mental health, victimization, and legal experiences was elicit- 7 low) was 11C0011011.41 during the original study using a modified Ihillingw ed. Of the original 217 eligible participants, 81% (n = 175) head index. The soak for relationship to perpetrator ranged from us-anger were interviewed at least once. (I) to pc:ranted figure I1). 'The ahum-aaverity composite index (1 - low. 12 - high) included abuse duration. extent of sexual contact. amount of force. For the present report. CSA memory accuracy was deter- and extent of injury £10100101111(10110,1. of the above. all from the original ease mined using primarily information collected during Phase 3 (in- documentalion. '.Wale frrqurney was scored as I (1 tinsel. 2 (24 tinsel). or 3 ('I or mor e time.). 'fhe soak for legal intolvement ranged front minimal II) person interview), which focused on participants' CSA memo- 10 testified 01. hl a tental support 01111161111104 on a dichotomous *role (0 tt no. ries, disclosure, and legal experiences. CSA was defined as 1 seal. exhibitionism, sexual touching, rape, oral sex, or intercourse (completed or attempted acts) that occurred before age 18 and nomic status, abuse severity, victim-perpetrator relationship, with a person more than 4 years older (see Goodman et al.. and original CRC!. total Tscore, ts(213-215)< 1.19. However, 2003). Of the 103 individuals (2.3 males, 80 females) who this subsample experienced greater legal involvement, received completed all portions of Phase 3, 7 said they were never abused more maternal support, and was older at the end of the abuse (although 3 of them had disclosed abuse in Phase 1 or 2), and 2 than were others from the original sample, ts(164-215) discussed the legal case but stated the abuse was a false report. 12.311, ps < .01. The present study concerns the 94 individuals (19 males, 75 PESO was assessed during Phase 2 using the Post-Traumatic females) who reported the former CSA and answered questions Stress" Diagnostic Scale (PDS), which has commendable psy- about it (see 'fable 1).3 Of these individuals. 69.1% were non- chometric pmperties (e.g., internal consistencies from .78 to .84 Hispanic Caucasian, 8.5% were African American, 12.8% were for the criteria: Foa, Cashman, Jaycox, & Perry, 1997). This Hispanic. and 9.6% were "other." Alleged perpetrators were measure provides a list of traumatic events (including CSA); strangers (9%), acquaintances (30%), nonparental caregivers respondents indicate which events happened to them and, (39%), or parental caregivers (22%). Of the cases, 44.7% in- among those, which was the most traumatic. The answer to the volved genital contact and 42.6% involved penetration. At entry latter question was used to score the most traumatic event (MTE) into the original study, maternal support following disclosure as CSA or another event. The measure then lists a series of was assessed on a dichotomous scale; most individuals had questions regarding the effects of participants' self-identified supportive mothers = 83 of 91). Participants' legal involve- COTE on their lives. Depending on participants' responses to ment was scored as I if the child never went to the courthouse these questions, they could meet up to six PTSD criteria: ex- (n = 25), 2 if the child went to the courthouse hut did not testify posure to trauma, reexperiencing symptoms, avoidance symp- (n = 32), or 3 if the child went to the courthouse and testified toms, arousal symptoms, trauma-related symptoms lasting 3 (n = 37). months or more, and significant distress or impairment in daily Participants who completed Phase 3 and disclosed the CSA functioning. A PTSD diagnosis is made when all six criteria are were comparable to the other participants from the original met. However, because another potentially important index is sample (Goodman et al., 1992) in terms of gender, socioeco- number of PTSD criteria satisfied, which may reflect more precisely the magnitude of an individual's psychopathology 2Sre Goodman el al. (19921 and Goodman et at (2003) for details about the related to a particular trauma, we used slumber of PTSD criteria measures in the original study and identification of target eases. enpectively. met (nVISD) as the operational index of traumatization. Of sfin predictors of Mime I disclosure. see Goodman et al. j2003). An identical analysis predicting disc home in the smaller Mime 3 sample revealed similar participants who completed the PDS Or = 86), 77 provided findings. ahlsough age no longer significantly predicted disclosure. detailed information about the nature of their most traumatic Volume IS—Number I 35 3534-009 Page 3 of 8 EFTA_00010255 EFTA00159903  Memory for Child Sexual Abuse TABLE 2 Correlations Among Key Variables Variable 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 I. Victim's age at end of abuse 2. Victim's gender .05 3. Abuse severity .06 .11 4. Legal involvement .17 —.09 .06 5. Victim's relationship to perpetrator —.03 .28** .38*** -.19 - 6. Maternal support -.04 .04 -.04 .11 .09 7. Delay -.09 -.07 -.08 .25a .04 8. Abuse frequency .02 .09 -.11 .04 9. Number of posttraumatic re disorder criteria met .25* .01 .04 .20 .08 .03 -.16 10. Most traumatic event -.22' -.03 .13 -.20 .22' -.02 .30" .10 .00 11. P1011elti011 correct .07 -.01 .16 .19 .01 .29" .09 .26* - 12. P1011elti011 Commission errors .09 .13 -..30" -.24* .13 -.08 -.61' - 13. Proportion omission errors -.16 -.21' .15 -.29" .09 .24' -.26' -.20 -.43a* -.16 Note. No ranged from 73 to 94. Sr. Table I for explanations of rating scales: in addition. for wittiest's gender. male - I and female 2. and most traumatir trent was scored 0 if it was not child sexual abuse and I if it was child sexual abuse. op < .05. cep < .01. "'p < .00I (twodaikil tests). experience, which was CSA for 48 of these participants and To establish reliability, four raters independently coded 12% another event for 29! of the interviews. For correct responses, commission errors, and omission errors, proportion agreement ranged from .83 to .99 Memory Coiling (Al = .93) for each pair of raters. The raters divided the re- Memory interviews were coded for accuracy according to facts maining interviews for coding. recorded in the original study. The coding scheme was based on 11 points of information (i.e., perpetrator's name, sexual acts, RESULTS victim's age at onset and offset, perpetrator's age, child-perpe- trator relationship, frequency and duration of abuse, child- Our goal was to identify predictors of memory accuracy for CSA. perpetrator living arrangement, and force and coercion in- Dependent measures included proportion correct (M = .72, volved). Participants' Phase 3 responses to relevant questions SD = .18, range = .29-1.00), proportion commission errors (e.g., "How old were you when the CSA first happened?" "What (Al = .14, SD = .17, range = .00—.71), and pmportion omission was the defendant's name?") were examined for this informa- errors Of = .14, SD= .18, range =.00—.80). Correlations among tion. When necessary for clarification, Phase 1 interviews and key variables are shown in Table 2. Phase 2 questionnaires were consulted. Then, responses were To examine the relative contribution of each variable in compared with the corresponding information from the original predicting memory of CSA, we conducted three linear regres- study (Goodman et al., 1992). Proportion correct was computed sions.° Predictors included victim's age at the end of the abuse, by dividing the number of correct responses by the number of victim's gentler, abuse severity, ntatemal support. victim-per- the 11 points of information reported by the participant. For 7 of petrator relationship, extent of legal involvement. delay be- the 11 points (e.g., whether force was involved), errors could be tween end of abuse and current memory interview, wrsu, scored as errors of commission (exaggeration or addition of AllE, and the nPTSD x MTE interaction. The regression for information relative to the original record: e.g., the victim proportion correct was significant, F(10, 64) = 3.34, p < .01 stating that he or she lived with the perpetrator when our records (fable 3): Maternal support, nPTSD, MTE, and the MTE x indicated that was not the case) or omission (exclusion or nPfSD interaction were significant predictors. downplaying of information: e.g., indicating no force was in- Individuals who received maternal support following CSA volved when our records indicated force was used).' discovery evinced more accurate long-term memory than those who did not receive such support. More PTSD criteria met and Tor most caws. it was possible to determine that the CSA reported as the nominating CSA as the MTE were also associated with more MTE was the CSA rase we had studied previously of the 48 participants indicating CSA as their NITE. 36 provided enough information to verify that they accurate responses. Figure 1 shows the interaction between were referring to the documented CSA). '`Questions not scored for errors were those such at. -How old were you when °Because of missing data. n in the regressions was 73 to 73. The patient of the abuse ended?" If. for example. the participant was 10rears old but indicated results was virtually identical texcepi as noted in the test) when duration or 9 year,. it was unclear whether this should he scored as a eommissicm or frequency, which could independently affirm memory. replaced severity. and omission error. The denominator for proportion emu" was 7. when only rmmborated caws were considered. 36 Volume 16—Number 3534-009 Page 4 of 8 EFTA_00010256 EFTA00159904  K.W. Alexander ri al. TABLE 3 naively accurate regardless of the number of PTSI) criteria Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Accuracy of Long- satisfied. However, for individuals nominating another life Term Memory for Child Sexual Abuse event (e.g., car accident, loved one's death) as their most sig- Variable I p nificant trauma, the relation between nPISI) and memory was positive. r = A4, p < .03. For these individuals. a greater Victim's age at end of abuse -.07 -0.62 .54 number of PTSD criteria met was associated with better memory Victim's Fender .16 1.47 .15 of CSA. Abuse severity .17 1.47 .15 Legal involvement .03 0.28 .78 It is possible that PTSD symptomatology is related to how Victim's relationship to perpetrator -.10 -0.82 .42 often the almse was discussed with a counselor or parent, which Maternal support .33 3.11 .003 could affect memory. To investigate this possibility, we added Delay -0.51 .61 therapy (whether the participant reported receiving counseling MTE 2.54 .01 during or immediately following the pmsecutiott) and frequency nPTSD .23 2.07 .04 of GSA discussion with the caregiver (immediately following the MTE x nPTSD -3.10 .0O3 CSA and during the delay), as indicated during Phase 2, indi- Note. n 75. IIITE newt traumatic event (not child sexual abuse —0. child vidually to the regressions.7 We similarly included self-reported sexual abuse — I). nIPTSD **number of posttraumatie stress disorder criteria number of other CSA experiences (31 = 1.71 for participants met. YrITE and nPTSD were standanfixed to create the interaction term. re - .14. The addition of the interaction term led to le change of.10. p <.01. whose MTE was GSA and At = 2.07 for participants whose MTE See Tables I and 2 for explanations of rating scales. was not CSA) and number of non-CSA traumas = 7.02 for participants whose MTE was CSA and At = 8.90 for partici- KITE and WISE'. For individuals designating CSA as their most pants whose MTE was not CSA), assessed in Phase 1. No sig- significant life trauma, there was virtually no relation between nificant it2 changes resulted" nPTSD and memory for the abuse. r = —.02: memory was rel- Our accuracy measure might be perceived as simply an index of consistency between the original and current reports. Nominated as Most Traumatic Event Although some facts used to create the accuracy variable Childhood Sexual Abuse relied solely on children's original statements, others were ob- jectively verifiable (e.g., perpetrator's name and age). When a -O- Other composite variable including only proportion correct for these 1.0 verifiable questions was entered as the dependent variable, the regression results remained virtually identical, 1(10, 64) = 2.57, p = .01. 0.9 lite regression analysis for omission errors was also signifi- cant, 1(10, 62) = 2.17, p < .05, R2 = .26. Maternal support Proportion Correct was the ottly significant predictor, 6 = —.30, p = .01 (greater maternal support predicted fewer omissions)9 although gentler, 0.8 6 = —.21,p <.10, appmached significance (females produced somewhat fewer omission errors than males). When we con- ducted the analysis replacing severity with frequency (the two 0.7 variables were highly correlated), greater frequency of CSA significantly predicted increased omission errors, S = .40, p = .01, despite a positive relation between frequency and 0.6 1We did not have infommiion on recent therapy. "Other mental health indices (composite WOrt}j collected during the initial study C.BC.I.1 or present study (i.e.. Dissociative Experiences Seale. Bernstein & Putnam. PM& Youth Self Report. Achenbach. 1907: Behavior 0.5 Symptom Index. Dricoraiis. 1983: Beek's Depression Inventory. Beck & Few Many Bramesderfer. 1071: Trauma Symptom Inventory. Briery. Elliott. Ilanis. & Colman. 1995) were not significantly related to memory accuracy or errors. m C 1.1911)f the 86 inditilitlaIS whose data allowed flea formal PTSD diagnosis Posttraumatic Stress Disorder to he made. 14 (15.9,A) reached the clinical diagnosis level (meeting the six Criteria Met criteria). Hawing a PTSD diagnosis was not :elated to proportion comet or commission or omission errom reganling the documented CSA. n < 1(181. Fig. 1. Relation between postiraumatic stress disorder mite. largely because participants who met four in fit. PTA) criteria generally ria satisfied and proportion correct on the measure of memory for the evinced accurate memory for the docomenied CSA. target childhood sexual abuse for participants indicating their most ''Participants who reported that their mother avoided talking about the abuse• traumatic life event was child sexual abuse versus another event. Lines are or told them not to talk about it ma& more omission errors than other partici. plotted according to the regression coefficients. pants. = —.20 and —.25. OF 78. ps <.05. Volume 1O—Nimilei 1 37 3534-009 Page 5 of 8 EFTA_00010257 EFTA00159905  Memory for Child Sexual Abuse initially receiving counseling related to the case, r = .30, p greater coherence of an initial event representation and in- .05. The regression model for commission errors was not sig- creased discussion could lead to maintenance of accurate nificant, FPO, 62) = 1.35, le= .18. memory. For the three memory measures, the findings remained vir- When the entire sample was included in the analyses, men's tually identical when we excluded the 12 people who indicated and women's memory accuracy did not differ significantly. another CSA case (not our target case) was their MTE; for ex- However, when the sample was limited to participants speci- ample, the regression for the proportion correct was again sig- fying the target ease as their MTE, results demonstrated that nificant, 1(10, 52) = 4.79,p C .001. Also, the effect of gender females provided more correct information than did males. became significant for proportion correct, B = .23, p C .05; Former research has suggested gentler differences in what females were more accurate than males. males and females define as abusive and in their memory for emotional events (e.g., Davis, 1999; Widom & Morris, 1997). To the extent that males may be less willing to discuss GSA. perhaps DISCUSSION particularly when the CSA is appraised as a highly traumatic personal event, they may have fewer rehearsal opportunities The present study examined the accuracy of long-term memory from the time the abuse ends, even in individuals willing to for CSA using a prospective design. Individuals who designated disclose their victimization. The resulting lack of rehearsal may CSA as their MTE and individuals with more vrsn symptom- affect accuracy of long-term memory. atologr were particularly accurate in their memory of the doc- Frequency of abuse was associated with a greater proportion umented CSA case, which suggests an important influence of of omission errors. There are several possible interpretations of trauma symptoms and cognitive appraisals on long-term CSA this finding. For instance, frequent events are associated with memory. Evidence demonstrates that memory for emotional schematization in memory, which could lead to omission errors. events often endures and that trauma-related information is Victims may also downplay incest or abuse in which they were generally retained well, especially among individuals with frequently (and perhaps actively) involved (Bidmse & Good- PTSD (Paunovic et al., 2002). Our results are largely consistent man. 2000). with this evidence. Although the regression predicting commission errors was Regarding the significant interaction involving MD crite- nonsignificant, two potentially important factors were identified ria, it is possible that when CSA (our documented case or an- in correlational analyses, warranting further research. Abuse other incident) was indicated as the MTE, individuals encoded severity predicted lack of commission errors, a result consis- and rehearsed central details of the GSA enough to maintain tent with studies indicating that stress is often (although not accurate memory over the long term, regardless of PTSD always) associated with accuracy (e.g., Christianson, 1992). symptoms. For them, as they reported, CSA was an emotional Also, greater legal involvement predicted fewer commission event, and the emotion or trauma-related semantic network that errors. Legal involvement might he associated with elaborative resulted may have facilitated memory retention (Foa et al., rehearsal, which facilitates long-term retention. The additional 1989; LeDoux, 2000). Among victims who indicated a non-CSA stress of possibly or actually testifying may have further event as their most traumatic, those with fewer MD symptoms solidified memory, thus reducing the likelihood of memory may not have focused on or may have actively tried to forget the errors. CSA, leading to poorer long-term memory. In contrast. those In the regression analyses, age at end of abuse was not sig- who reported greater vrsu symptomatology (for a non-CSA nificantly associated with long-term memory. In a previous trauma) may have been preoccupied with trauma or possessed analysis based on a larger sample (from Phase 1, n = 174; fear networks that generalized to traumatic events overall, Goodman et al., 2003), we found that age predicted whether supporting relatively accurate long-term memory of GSA. It is participants disclosed CSA. Nondisclosing participants were also possible that this latter group had discussed the abuse more not included in the present study. Moreover, the present sample (e.g., in recent psychotherapy), although apparently not with a did not contain individuals whose abuse ended before they were therapist right after the target CSA or with their nonoffending 3 years old. Age at end of ahuse may he related to childhood caregiver up to the time of the present interview. amnesia or "lost memory" but not to accuracy for core, salient Maternal support following disclosure of the abuse signifi- features among individuals whose abuse ended at age 3 or after cantly predicted a higher proportion correct and fewer omission and who remember GSA. errors. Previous research has revealed benefits of maternal Finally, victim-perpetrator relationship and delay were sta- support on children's memory for distressing experiences (e.g., tistically unrelated to memory of CSA. Relationship between Goodman et al., 1994). In our study, maternal supportiveness the victim and perpetrator is likely more complicated than our may have facilitated formation of a coherent representation classification captured. Delay may have lost its predictive of the abuse. Also, children with supportive mothers may have power given the long time interval, and subsequent forgetting, felt comfortable discussing the. CSA with other people. Both between the abuse and memory interview. 38 Volume la—Number 3534-009 Page 6 of 8 EFTA_00010258 EFTA00159906  K.W. Alexander to A. Some limitations of our study should he noted. The general- Bidrose. S.. & Goodman. C.S. (2000). Testimony and evidence: A izability of our findings to nonreported CSA cases is unknown, scientific case study of memory for child sexual abuse. Applied and most CSA is never reported to authorities. Because we Cognitive Psychology, 14. 197-214. Bremner. J.D.. Shobe. K.K.. & KihIstrom. J.F. (20(X)). False memories tested memory in a prosecution sample, disclosure and dis- in women with self-reported childhood sexual abuse: An empir- cussion of CSA had typically taken place during childhood. Our ical study. Psychological Science. 11. 33.3-337. results do not necessarily reflect memory accuracy for cases in Brien, J.. Elliott. D.M.. Hanis. K.. & Colnran. A. (1995). Trauma which the first disclosure occurs after lengthy delays (i.e., in Symptom Inventory: Psychometrics and association with child- adulthood). Moreover, if the initial allegations were false or hood and adult victimization in clinical samples. Journal of In- terpersonal Violence. 10. 387-401. distorted, our findings would be affected. lack of statistical Browne. A.. & Finkelhor. D. (1986). Impact of child sexual abuse: A power may have reduced our ability to detect certain effects, review of the research. Psychological Bulletin. 99.66—i7. such as those of age and delay. Furthermore, future studies Christianson. S.-A. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A should focus on additional memory characteristics (e.g., com- critical review. Psychological Bulletin. 112. 284-309. pleteness, emotional content). Dalgleish. T. (2004). Cognitive approaches to posttraumatic stress Nevertheless, by examining trauma-related factors, the disorder: The evolution of multheptesentational theorizing. Psy- chological Bulletin. 130 228-260. present study sheds light on theoretical and applied issues Davis. P. (1999). Gender differences in autobiographical memory for regarding memory for traumatic experiences. Although repli- childhood emotional experiences. Journal of Personality and cation is needed, our res