Memory specificity and generalised negative beliefs have been independently and robustly associated with depression and other poor mental health outcomes. Theory suggests reduced memory specificity may reinforce these general beliefs, and if negative, can lead to poorer mental health. However, longitudinal evidence is limited, particularly among young people who face elevated mental health risks. In a community sample of 511 young people (aged 16-25), we examined this relationship across three time points. Using mediation models, we found that reduced memory specificity at baseline predicted more negative beliefs at six-month follow-up, which in turn predicted increased depressive symptoms and reduced well-being at one year, controlling for baseline depression. While the observational design limits causal inference, these findings support the theoretical role of generalised negative beliefs in mediating the relationship between memory specificity and mental health outcomes.

The literature highlights links between autobiographical memory, psychological health, and acculturation’s impact on autobiographical memory recall. This study examines how heritage and host acculturation orientations influence depression and anxiety in Syrian immigrants in Turkey (%51 female, Mage=31), mediated by autobiographical memory. A sample of 293 participants completed measures assessing autobiographical memory characteristics (related to pre-migration, post-migration, and future), acculturation orientations, and psychological health. Mediation analyses showed that host acculturation enhances the recollection characteristics of post-migration and future-oriented autobiographical memories, while heritage acculturation strengthens pre-migration autobiographical memory recollection characteristics, both contributing to reduced depressive symptoms. This pioneering study provides insights into how acculturation interacts with autobiographical memory to influence psychological health in immigrants. Findings are discussed within the context of migration and acculturation. Last, the findings provide the potential for autobiographical memory-focused interventions to support psychological well-being in immigrant populations.

Keywords: autobiographical memory, immigrants, acculturation, psychological health

Depression has been associated with a reduced ability to flexibly recall different types of autobiographical memory, but it is unknown whether reduced memory flexibility is a prospective risk factor for depression. Here we explore a direct relationship, and indirect effects via several mechanisms relevant to mental wellbeing - problem-solving skills, cognitive reappraisal skills, negative schemas, and perceived social support. The study followed 511 young people (16-25 years) over a year. It provides the first evidence that memory flexibility in young people indirectly predicts more severe depression symptoms one year later through negative schemas about the self and others. These findings also provide evidence that memory flexibility predicts problem solving and cognitive reappraisal effectiveness six months later. These findings extend our understanding of the relationship between biases in autobiographical memory retrieval and mental wellbeing, and indicate future research into improving memory flexibility is appropriate to determine its potential as therapeutic target.

Our research investigates how qualities of mid-adolescents’ memory narratives of a life turning point and the implications of the experience for self predict depressive symptoms over time. Findings from two longitudinal studies (6 months, N = 320; one year, N = 132) showed the following: 1) reporting a turning point with greater episodic detail predicted escalating depressive symptoms (or the reverse); 2) reporting a specific turning point (an experience of less than 24 hours’ duration) also predicted escalating depressive symptoms; 3) drawing a negative implication for self as having changed for the worse exacerbated the relationship between specificity and depressive symptoms over time; 4) these patterns did not emerge for a memory narrative of a conflict event. Specific and detailed turning point memory narratives appear to reflect increased risk for youth depressive symptoms, particularly when the turning point is appraised as detrimental to self.