Autobiographical Memories Prompted by Automatic Thoughts in Panic Disorder and Social Phobia

Abstract

This study examined the retrieval of autobiographical memories when prompted by automatic thoughts that were representative of maladaptive schema content specific to 2 anxiety disorders. Participants with panic disorder (n = 20), those with social phobia (n = 22) and non‐anxious participants (n = 20) indicated the first specific memory that came to mind when cued with panic‐related, social phobia‐related and control automatic thoughts. Panic participants retrieved memories cued with panic disorder‐related automatic thoughts more quickly than social phobic and non‐anxious participants, and social phobic participants retrieved memories cued with social phobia‐related automatic thoughts more quickly than non‐anxious participants. Relative to non‐anxious participants, participants in both patient groups retrieved more anxious/worried memories when cued with automatic thoughts related to their diagnosis and more fearful memories when cued with either type of diagnosis‐related automatic thought. Results indicate that panic and social phobic participants were characterized by general threat‐relevant autobiographical memory biases.

Keywords:

• autobiographical memory
• automatic thoughts
• schema
• panic disorder
• social phobia

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by dissertation awards from the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Foundation, Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Society for the Science of Clinical Psychology, and the University of Iowa Student Government. Portions of this research were presented in Amy Wenzel's dissertation and in Cassandra Cochran's honors thesis. The authors would like to thank their committee members and the many research assistants who conducted this research.