THE CONSTITUENT STRUCTURE OF SUBJECTIVE MEMORY QUESTIONNAIRES - EVIDENCE FROM MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

A number of different instruments have been devised for investigating individual differences in memory on the basis of subjective reports. O ne such questionnaire was mailed to individuals on a register of patie nts with multiple sclerosis, a condition that is known to be associate d with objective impairments in cognition and memory. A similar questi onnaire was enclosed to be completed about each patient by a close rel ative. The patients' and relatives' responses were found to share a fa ctor structure identifying memory problems in five areas: receptive co mmunication, route finding, absent-mindedness, face recognition, and e xpressive communication. These were dominated by a single second-order factor representing st global subjective memory impairment. There wer e some minor differences between the patients and relatives in their f actor scores, but there was generally a high degree of concordance in their responses.