Memory and affect: Autobiographical memory distribution and availability in normal adults and recently detoxified alcoholics

An autobiographical memory task was administered to a group of 15 male alco holics (duration of abuse x 16 years) and to a control group comprised of 1 5 nonabusers. The alcoholics were inpatients in a chemical dependence treat ment program who had their last drink 8 days prior to testing. Two aspects of autobiographical memory were compared. First, the distribution of memori es for life events over the lifespan clearly differed for the two groups. T he alcoholic group recalled far fewer memories from the most recent 5 years and showed an exaggerated tendency to recall memories from their early adu lthood when compared to the control group. This result is consistent with a model of the onset of a temporally graded retrograde amnesia subsequent to a protracted period of alcohol abuse. In such cases the context for self-e valuation may remain heavily rooted in late adolescence. Second, in contras t to results of the control group, the data from men in the alcohol group r evealed no relationship between latency to report autobiographical memories associated with a particular affect and self-rated frequency of such affec ts. This dissociation indicates the possible impact of atypical memory perf ormance on views of the self.