Feasibility and Effectiveness of Memory Specificity Training in Depressed Outpatients: A Pilot Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Research has shown that depressed patients suffer from reduced autobiographical memory specificity (rAMS). This cognitive phenomenon is associated with the maintenance and recurrence of depressive symptoms. OBJECTIVES: This pilot study aims to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a relatively new group-based intervention (Memory Specificity Training; MeST) that aims to reduce rAMS in an outpatient setting. METHODS: Twenty-six depressed outpatients received MeST during the waiting period prior to psychotherapy. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) was used to measure client satisfaction after the training. The Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) was used to measure memory specificity before and after the training. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), before and after the training, and at a 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Participants as well as trainers were positive about the use of MeST. Participants also showed an increase in memory specificity and a decrease in depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that MeST is feasible in an outpatient setting, that it increases autobiographical memory specificity and that it may decrease depressive symptoms. A randomized controlled trial is recommended to examine MeST and its effects on autobiographical memory specificity, depressive symptoms and depressive relapse more extensively. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: Research suggests that modification of rAMS can advance recovery and reduce the chance of developing a depression relapse. However, most existing psychotherapies for depression do not include these specific interventions. This is the first study to show that MeST in an outpatient setting is feasible and can lead to an increase in autobiographical memory specificity and that it may decrease depressive symptoms. A larger scale randomized controlled trial is required to examine whether the addition of MeST to care as usual decreases depressive symptoms more effectively than care as usual without MeST, and to examine whether subgroups of patients benefit specifically from this intervention (e.g. patients with more severely decreased memory specificity).

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