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The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of stress on long-term memory of a natural disaster. Although there has been some theoretical controversy as to how stress effects memory, overall, studies have found that stressful events are very well recalled, particularly central information. Fivush and colleagues interviewed 3-4 year old children who experienced Hurricane Andrew, a severe storm, 2-5 months after it occurred. Children were again interviewed, using the same format, when they were 9-10 years of age. Four distinct stress measures were also collected at the time of the initial interview. It was hypothesized that the more highly stressed a child, according to these measures, the more internal state language the child would use. Also hypothesized was that if a child used more internal state language, that child would also focus on central information (about the storm itself) rather than peripheral information (about preparation for the storm or the aftermath of the storm) during the interview. Narratives from both the time 1and time 2 interviews were coded for propositions about the preparation of the storm, the storm itself, and the aftermath of the storm. Interviews were also coded for internal state words including, positive emotion words, negative emotion words, and cognition words, such as "believe" and "know." Although the four stress measures used did not relate to each other, children who showed more post traumatic stress symptoms on the Child Frederick Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Index, at the time of the initial interview, used more negative emotion words at the Time 2 interview (r=.36, p< .05). Also higher PTSD symptoms were related to less recall proportionally about the storm at Time 1 (r= -.58, p< .01), but more recall about the storm proportionally at Time 2 (r=.48, p< .01). Also, the higher the mother rated the child's stress, the more information about the storm was recalled at Time 2(r=.45, p< .01). Children who focused on the storm during recall used more negative emotion words at Time 1 (r=.50, p< .01) and both more negative emotion words (r=.42, p< .01) and cognition words at Time 2 (r=.42, p< .01). These results provide implications for the way children's understanding about a stressful event unfolds over time.
Some studies have concluded that recall of more highly stressful events include more internal state language than events rated as less stressful, which supports the idea that as an event becomes more challenging for the self, there is an increase in focus on one’s thoughts and feelings (Fivush et al., 2000). Further, it has been argued that when focusing internally, emotional memories will center around the causes of the emotions and thus lead the individual to personalize a narrative account around the central elements of the emotional experience (Christianson &Lindholm, 1998). In addition, it is often found that emotional events are less accurately recalled with respect to peripheral information within the emotional scenario or the information preceding and following the traumatic event (Christianson & Lindholm, 1998).
Interviews were conducted on 36 mostly white, mixed socio-economic status children who experienced Hurricane Andrew when they were 3-4 years old. Time 1 interviews occurred 2-5 months after the storm and Time 2 interviews occurred 6 years later, when the children were 9-10 years old. The interview began with the experimenter asking children to recall all they could about the hurricane. Once children exhausted their free recall, they were asked a series of standard questions (cued recall) about the preparation, storm, and aftermath of the hurricane. All interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim.
Results I: Repeated measures ANOVA indicates that children are using more internal state language at Time 2 than at Time 1 (F(2,68)=10.14, p< .001). Follow up tests indicate that at Time 1, use of negative emotion words is greater than use of positive emotion words, which are both greater than cognition words. At Time 2, use of negative emotion words and cognition words is equal, but both are greater than use of positive emotion words.
Results II: Children who show higher Post Traumatic Stress symptoms at Time 1 use more negative emotion words at Time 2 and also have a tendency to use more cognition words at Time 2.
Resluts III:Children who show more Post-Traumatic Stress symptoms at Time 1 recall less information about the storm at Time 1, but more information about the storm at Time 2. The higher the rating of mother’s stress about child, the more the child recalls about the storm proportionally at Time 2.
Results IV: Children who focus on information about the storm during recall use more negative emotion words at Time 1 and both more negative emotion words and cognition words at Time 2.
Summary: The more PTSD symptoms a child showed at the time of the initial interview, the more negative emotion words that child used at the Time 2 interview. The more PTSD symptoms a child showed at the time of the initial interview, the less the child talked about the central aspects of the storm at Time 1, but the more the child talked about the storm at the Time 2 interview. The mother’s rating of child’s stress at Time 1 also positively correlated with the amount of recall about the storm at Time 2. Children who focused on the storm during recall used more negative emotion words at Time 1 and both more negative emotion words and cognition words at Time 2.
Implications: Overall, this event was well-remembered by these children over a 6 year period, which leads to the conclusion that stressful events are not forgotten by young children. Younger children may have immature coping strategies which is why more highly stressed children may avoid talking about central aspects of the storm during recall. By the Time 2 interview children may have been able to process and encode their experience with this natural disaster, which is why they use more internal state language at this time.
This research examined the effects of stress on children's memory of a traumatic event. Children who experienced Hurricane Andrew were interviewed 2-5 months after the storm, when they were 3-4 years old, and again 6 years later, when they were 9-10 years old. Amount of internal state language and propositions about the central aspect s of the storm were examined. It was found that higher stressed children used more negative emotion words at Time 1. Also found, more highly stressed children talked less about the storm at Time 1, but more about the storm at Time 2. Also, children who talked more about the storm used more negative emotion words at Time 1, and both more negative emotion and cognition words at Time 2. Overall, stressful events experienced early in childhood continue to be recalled in vivid detail years later, suggesting that memories for and coping with early stressful experiences is an important avenue for future research.
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