Three potential sources of error in retrospective reports of childhood experiences are documented: low reliability and validity of autobiographical memory in general, the presence of general memory impairment associated with psychopathology, and the presence of specific mood-congruent memory biases associated with psychopathology. The evidence reviewed suggests that claims concerning the general unreliability of retrospective reports are exaggerated and that there is little reason to link psychiatric status with less reliable or less valid recall of early experiences. Nevertheless, it is clear that steps must be taken to overcome the limitations of retrospective reports and enhance their reliability.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/113/1/82.pdf

Psychopathology and early experience: a reappraisal of retrospective reports.

Violence and victims. The contribution of victimology to forensic psychiatry

One hundred twenty-nine women with previously documented histories of sexual victimization in childhood were interviewed and asked detailed questions about their abuse histories to answer the question "Do people actually forget traumatic events such as child sexual abuse, and if so, how common is such forgetting?" A large proportion of the women (38%) did not recall the abuse that had been reported 17 years earlier. Women who were younger at the time of the abuse and those who were molested by someone they knew were more likely to have no recall of the abuse. The implications for research and practice are discussed. Long periods with no memory of abuse should not be regarded as evidence that the abuse did not occur.

/pdf/recall-of-childhood-trauma-a-prospective-study-of-women-s-3f3pem97jt.pdf

Recall of Childhood Trauma: A Prospective Study of Women's Memories of Child Sexual Abuse.

The incidence and long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse were studied in a clinical sample of 152 adult women. Approximately 44% of female clients presenting to a health center crisis service reported a childhood history of sexual victimization. Prior victimization was associated with increased dissociation, sleep disturbance, tension, sexual problems, and anger on a Crisis Symptom Checklist, as well as greater current use of psychoactive medications, and more frequent histories of suicide attempts, substance addiction, and revictimization. Long-term psychological effects of sexual abuse are interpreted within both a developmental context and in terms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Implications of the current data and related literature for mental health workers are briefly discussed.

Post Sexual Abuse Trauma: Data and Implications for Clinical Practice

A sample of 450 adult clinical subjects reporting sexual abuse histories were studied regarding their repression of sexual abuse incidents. A total of 267 subjects (59.3%) identified some period in their lives, before age 18, when they had no memory of their abuse. Variables most predictive of abuse-related amnesia were greater current psychological symptoms, molestation at an early age, extended abuse, and variables reflecting especially violent abuse (e.g., victimization by multiple perpetrators, having been physically injured as a result of the abuse, victim fears of death if she or he disclosed the abuse to others). In contrast, abuse characteristics more likely to produce psychological conflict (e.g., enjoyment of the abuse, acceptance of bribes, feelings of guilt or shame) were not associated with abuse-related amnesia. The results of this study are interpreted as supporting Freud's initial “seduction hypothesis,” as well as more recent theories of post-traumatic dissociation.

J. Moussaieff Masson

Papers

The assault on truth : Freud's suppression of the seduction theory