The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of memory specificity training (MEST) on autobiographical memory recall and depression. Afghan adolescents with depression were randomly assigned to a MEST group or to a control group. At baseline, both groups completed Persian versions of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) and the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). The MEST group then had five weekly group sessions of MEST. The control group had no additional contact. The AMT and MFQ were then readministered to all participants, and the MFQ was readministered at 2-month follow-up. The MEST group retrieved a higher proportion of specific memories following training and had lower levels of depression at 2-month follow-up than did the control group. Change in memory specificity predicted follow-up depression over and above baseline depression and mediated the relationship between receipt of MEST and reduction in later depression. The results suggest that MEST can improve autobiographical memory performance and drive subsequent reduction in depression symptoms.

Background. Investigators have used various experimental paradigms such as the Stroop colour naming test to study how adults with different emotional disorders process emotional information. However, to date, little research has been carried out on younger subjects.Method. In the current experiment, children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and control subjects aged 9–17 years, participated in a modified Stroop colour naming task.Results. The results indicated that the children and adolescents with PTSD showed increased Stroop interference for trauma-related material relative to neutral words and to the performance of the controls.Conclusions. These findings indicate that attentional bias to trauma-congruent information is a function of PTSD in young age groups. The results are discussed with respect to the literature on information processing in PTSD.

Cognitive theories of anxiety based on adult data predict that individuals vulnerable to anxiety should show threat - related interpretations of ambiguous material and it is proposed that this is an important maintaining factor in anxiety disorders. In the present study, interpretation of ambiguous emotional/neutral information was examined in child and adolescent anxious patients. Two groups of participants, anxious patients (n = 17) and healthy controls (n = 40), were presented with a series of homographs, each with a threatening and a neutral interpretation. For each homograph, the participants were asked to construct a sentence using the homograph. Anxious children and adolescents produced significantly more sentences consistent with threatening homograph interpretations and less consistent with neutral interpretations than did normal controls. Regression analyses revealed no relationship between age and this interpretive bias. Preliminary developmental and theoretical implications are discussed.