PeerJ (Dec 2019)

Functioning of autobiographical memory specificity and self-defining memories in people with cancer diagnosis

  • Marta Nieto,
  • Beatriz Navarro-Bravo,
  • Beatriz Moreno,
  • Alberto Ocana,
  • Juan Pedro Serrano,
  • Clotilde Boix Gras,
  • Jorge Ricarte,
  • Luz Fernández-Aguilar,
  • Laura Ros,
  • Jose Miguel Latorre

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8126
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7
p. e8126

Abstract

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Objectives Cognitive and emotional disturbances have been associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Autobiographical memory is one of the specific cognitive processes affected during this disease. The current study had two main aims: (1) to compare the functioning of autobiographical memory specificity and its related variables (executive functioning, depression and perceived stress) in a group of persons with cancer and a control group; and (2) to analyze whether the experience of cancer evolved into a self-defining memory in the sample of participants diagnosed with this disease. Method The study sample comprised 62 participants, 31 in the group with a cancer diagnosis and 31 in the control group. Autobiographical memory specificity, executive functions, depression, stress and self-defining memory were evaluated in the current study. Results Depressive symptomatology and reduced executive functioning, but not perceived stress levels, are related and are predictors of autobiographical memory specificity. In addition, the identified characteristics of the self-defining memories were associated with the cancer experience as a threat to physical integrity and an awareness of the meaning of life. Conclusion This emerging research line is especially important in view of its possible impacts on patients’ well-being, due to the importance of psychological processes in cancer disease.

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