Autobiographical memory in traumatic brain injury: Neuropsychological and mood predictors of recall

Survivors of traumatic brain injury are often impaired in their recall of specific events. Depressed, suicidal, and post-traumatically stressed patients also tend to be over-general in autobiographical recall. In this study we examined the extent to which neurological damage and disturbed mood converge to lead to problems in autobiographical recall for survivors of traumatic brain injury. Eighteen participants completed measures of depression and anxiety (HAD), tests of general memory and immediate recall (Rivermead), and of current and premorbid verbal IQ (SCOLP). In addition they completed a 20 cue word autobiographical memory test and made causal attributions for their trauma events. Correlational analyses revealed that difficulty in autobiographical recall was related to reduced immediate recall ability and mood disturbance. Remedial implications are discussed.