DEPRESSION AND MEMORY IMPAIRMENT - A METAANALYSIS OF THE ASSOCIATION,ITS PATTERN, AND SPECIFICITY

The existing evidence paints an unclear picture of whether an associat ion exists between depression and memory impairment. The purpose of th is investigation was to determine whether depression is associated wit h memory impairment, whether moderator variables determine the extent of this association, and whether any obtained association is unique to depression. Meta-analytic techniques were used to synthesize data fro m 99 studies on recall and 48 studies on recognition in clinically dep ressed and nondepressed samples. Associations between memory impairmen t and other psychiatric disorders( e.g., schizophrenia, dementia) were also examined. A significant, stable association between depression a nd memory impairment was revealed. Further analyses indicated, however , that it is likely that depression is linked to particular aspects of memory, the linkage is found in particular subsets of depressed indiv iduals, and memory impairment is not unique to depression.