ADULT MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA - A NATURALISTIC CLINICAL-STUDY

The clinical evaluations of 77 adult psychiatric outpatients reporting memories of childhood trauma were reviewed. A majority of patients re ported some degree of continuous recall. Roughly half (53%) said they had never forgotten the traumatic events. Two smaller groups described a mixture of continuous and delayed recall (17%) or a period of compl ete amnesia followed by delayed recall (16%). Patients with and withou t delayed recall did not differ significantly in the proportions repor ting corroboration of their memories from other sources. Idiosyncratic , trauma-specific reminders and recent life crises were most commonly cited as precipitants to delayed recall. A previous psychotherapy was cited as a factor in a minority (28%) of cases. By contrast, intrusion of new memories after a period of amnesia was frequently cited as a f actor-leading to the decision to seek psychotherapy. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the role of psychother apy in the process of recovering traumatic memories.