Selective intentional forgetting in adolescents with social anxiety disorder

Abstract Anxiety in young adults has recently been linked to reduced capacities to inhibit the processing of non-affective perceptual distractors. However, no previous research has addressed the relationship between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and the ability to intentionally inhibit no longer rel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research 2013-07, Vol.208 (2), p.151-155
Main Authors: Gómez-Ariza, Carlos J, Iglesias-Parro, Sergio, Garcia-Lopez, Luis J, Díaz-Castela, M Mar, Espinosa-Fernández, Lourdes, Muela, José A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis
Anxiety Disorders - psychology
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
Executive control
Female
Humans
Inhibition
Inhibition (Psychology)
Male
Medical sciences
Memory
Mental Recall
Phobia
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social Behavior
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Summary:Abstract Anxiety in young adults has recently been linked to reduced capacities to inhibit the processing of non-affective perceptual distractors. However, no previous research has addressed the relationship between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and the ability to intentionally inhibit no longer relevant memories. In an experimental study with adolescents diagnosed with SAD and matched nonclinical controls, a selective directed forgetting procedure was used to assess the extent to which anxious individuals showed lower memory impairment for to-be-forgotten information than their non-anxious counterparts. The results revealed that while the nonclinical sample group demonstrated the ability to selectively forget when instructed, the anxious adolescents demonstrated good memory for to-be-forgotten material and therefore failed to forget. Interestingly, more severe SAD symptomatology inversely predicted a degree of forgetting. We conclude that the main difference between socially anxious and non-anxious participants is specifically related to the ability to intentionally forget and could reflect cognitive functioning that is associated with vulnerability to anxiety. Impairment of the ability to make unwanted memories less retrievable could prompt some individuals to initiate or maintain anxiety disorders. Future psychological treatments could benefit from including modules on memory control training.
ISSN:0165-1781
1872-7123
DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2012.09.027