Journal of Traumatic Stress

October 2013, 26, 626630

BRIEF REPORT
The Impact of Imprisonment on Overgeneral Autobiographical
Memory in Former Political Prisoners
Birgit Kleim,1 James W. Griffith,2,3 Ira Gabler,4 Matthias Schutzwohl,5 and Andreas Maercker4
1
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
2
Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
3
Centre for Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
4
Department of Psychopathology and Clinical Intervention, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
5
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

Traumatic experiences may dramatically influence later behavior and cognitive processing. This study investigated how trauma shapes the
way that we remember personal experiences. Specifically, we investigated overgeneral autobiographical memory, which is the tendency
to remember autobiographical events in an overgeneral rather than specific way. We administered the Autobiographical Memory Test
(Williams & Broadbent, 1986) to 86 survivors of political imprisonment 37 years after they had been released from imprisonment.
Depression and posttraumatic stress disorder were not significantly related to overgeneral autobiographical memory. Significant overgeneral
autobiographical memory correlates included embitterment, r = .28, and being released to former East Germany, d = 0.67. Survivors
with social support, r = .30 were better able to recall specific memories. Certain trauma characteristics and the way the trauma is processed
may thus influence how personal memories are later remembered. This study also furthers the understanding of memory processes in
political prisoners, who are not commonly studied in psychological research.

Political imprisonment in the former German Democratic
Republic (GDR) was a traumatic experience, often including
harsh interrogation and confinement methods (e.g., Maercker
& Schutzwohl, 1997). Such psychological trauma can shape
how autobiographical events are stored and remembered. Stud-
ies have linked trauma or trauma-related psychopathology, such
as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression, with a
tendency to remember autobiographical events in a nonspecific
way (Brown et al., 2011; Moore & Zoellner, 2007): Individ-
uals encounter problems during retrieval of specific autobio-
graphical memories and produce overgeneral memories. When
provided with a cue word, they tend to retrieve categorical
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Swiss National Science Founda-
tion to Dr. Kleim (PZ00P1-126597) and the FWO to Dr. Griffith (GP.035.11N).
We thank Anne Daues for her support with the AMT memory ratings, and
James W. Griffith, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School
of Medicine, Chicago, IL, and the Centre for Learning and Experimental Psy-
chopathology, KU Leuven.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Birgit
Kleim, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Univer-
sity of Zurich, Binzmuhlestrasse 14, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland. E-mail:
b.kleim@psychologie.uzh.ch
Copyright  C 2013 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. View
summaries of events (e.g., memories of repeated time points or
extended periods) rather than unique moments or distinct events
that occurred at a particular time and place. Different factors
may contribute to overgeneral autobiographical memory, in-
cluding rumination and abstract negative self-schemas that lead
individuals to become captured in abstract cognitions with-
out proceeding to specific retrieval. Impaired executive function
can also lead to overgeneral autobiographical memory because
of difficulties holding a retrieval model in mind and difficul-
ties in inhibiting task-irrelevant information (Williams et al.,
2007).
In the present study, we used the Autobiographical Memory
Test (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986) to investigate over-
general autobiographical memory following political impris-
onment. Based on findings that overgeneral autobiographical
memory may be related to abuse severity (e.g., Hermans et al.,
2004), we hypothesized that imprisonment severity character-
istics would be associated with later autobiographical remem-
bering in the AMT. Those with longer pretrial custody duration,
a period often characterized by severe custodial circumstances,
may retrieve fewer specific memories. Experiencing confine-
ment under particularly severe conditions, such as in dark-
ness, may also lead to overgeneral autobiographical memory.

this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com Endorsing negative attitudes toward the imprisonment in the
DOI: 10.1002/jts.21849 form of embitterment may render individuals more likely to be

626
 Political Imprisonment and Autobiographical Memory 627

captured at an earlier, general stage of memory retrieval. This Table 1

in turn should lead to overgeneral autobiographical memory. Demographic, Imprisonment-Related, and Clinical Sample
We hypothesized that social support would facilitate sharing Characteristics
imprisonment-related memories and elicit repeated retrieval of
Variable n %
specific events (Hirst & Echterhoff, 2012). Thus, social support
should lead to higher levels of memory specificity. The ability Sex
to extract meaning from memories has been posited as a marker Male 72 83.7
of a functional and dynamic self-memory system, and is thus Female 14 16.3
proposed as a predictor of specificity (Blasgov & Singer, 2004; Employment status
Conway, 2005). Finding meaning may be facilitated by certain Employed/studying 42 48.8
conditions, such as release to the GDR or the Federal Republic Not employed 41 47.7
of Germany. For those released to the GDR, conditions often Relationship status
did not improve; they could not trust people around them, hence Partnership 65 75.6
possibly leading to avoidance and later overgenerality, as well as No partnership 19 22.1
greater self-relevance of the trauma (Maercker & Horn, 2012). Missing information 2 2.3
In summary, we hypothesized that political imprisonment Education
characteristics and negative attitudes toward the imprisonment No school degree 1 1.0
and its consequences would lead to lower memory specificity. Secondary school degree 41 47.7
We also examined the effect of PTSD and depression and High school degree 42 48.8
of being released to East versus West Germany on memory Missing information 2 2.3
specificity. Dark confinement
Yes 16 18.6
No 53 61.6
Method Missing information 17 19.8
Participants
M SD
The sample comprised 86 survivors of political imprisonment
in the former GDR (83.7% male). Demographic, clinical, and Severity of PTSD symptoms (IES-R) Time 1
imprisonment-related variables are provided in Table 1. As part Total 2.04 1.23
of an earlier study (Maercker & Schutzwohl, 1997), participants Reexperiencing 2.52 1.47
were first interviewed in 1995, on average, 24 years following Avoidance 1.49 1.11
release from prison, M = 23.56 years, SD = 10.68. Of the 146 Hyperarousal 2.18 1.66
participants from the original study, 25 were deceased in 2008, Severity of PTSD symptoms (IES-R) Time 2
17 declined further participation, 11 could not be reached, and Total 2.25 1.30
7 provided written assessments only. Reexperiencing 2.75 2.75
Avoidance 1.77 1.77
Hyperarousal 2.31 2.31
Measures Beck Depression Inventory Time 1 14.21 10.91
Beck Depression Inventory Time 2 13.58 11.67
A German version of the AMT (Williams & Broadbent, 1986)
Age (in years) 64.40 10.42
was used, consisting of five positive and five negative cue words
Age at arrest (in years) 25.20 7.89
presented orally in random order. The participants task was to
Duration of imprisonment (months) 30.02 29.21
generate a specific memory in response to each cue word (i.e.,
Time since release (years) 6.52 10.69
a personal memory that happened on a specific occasion last-
ing less than 1 day). Participants were allowed 60 seconds Note. PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder; IES-R = Impact of Event Scale-
for each response. Raters, blind to participants clinical or Revised.
imprisonment-related characteristics, coded each response as
a specific (e.g., The day that I was released from imprison- lished with the Diagnostic Interview of Psychiatric Disorders
ment) or a nonspecific memory (e.g., my summer in Spain), (Margraf & Schneider, 1996).
with high interrater reliability ( = .79). Participants completed a questionnaire about characteristics
PTSD symptom severity was assessed with the Impact of of the imprisonment, such as duration, imprisonment condi-
Event Scale-Revised (IES-R; German version by Maercker & tions, and the conditions of their release, i.e., release to the
Schutzwohl, 1998). Subscales were calculated for the three GDR or West Germany. Perceived social support was assessed
symptom clusters, with a maximum score of 4. Depression with the German Perceived Social Support Scale (Sommer &
symptom severity was assessed with the Beck Depression In- Fydrich, 1991), a widely used 54-item German questionnaire
ventory (BDI; Beck & Steer, 1978). PTSD diagnosis was estab- with good internal consistency (between .81 and .93).

Journal of Traumatic Stress DOI 10.1002/jts. Published on behalf of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
628
A sense of embitterment was assessed with five items
from the Berne Embitterment Scale (Znoj, 2008). Internal
consistency was high ( = .90). The ability to find meaning
in life was assessed with the meaningfulness scale from the
Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1993), which had high
internal consistency in the current sample ( = .90).
Procedure
Participants completed two assessments (Time 1: 1994, Time 2:
2008). At Time 1, demographic and imprisonment-related vari-
ables, PTSD, and depressive symptom severity, as well as PTSD
diagnosis were assessed. At Time 2, PTSD and depressive
symptom severity, and PTSD diagnosis, as well as postevent
processing, i.e., finding meaning and a sense of embitterment
were assessed. The AMT was conducted individually at Time 2.
Participants received reimbursement for their travel expenses.
Data Analysis
Analyses consisted of t tests and Pearson r correlation coeffi-
cients. We applied Bonferroni adjustments controlling for mul-
tiple testing of associations between imprisonment variables
and overgeneral autobiographical memory, resulting in signif-
icant p values: p < .013 for correlations between continuous
variables and overgeneral autobiographical memory, and p <
.025 for testing group differences via t tests.
Results
Survivors retrieved an average of 57.7% (SD = 18.9%) spe-
cific memories. There were no overall differences in memory
specificity in response to positive and negative cues, p = .768.
The group was, on average, mildly depressed (BDI M = 14.22,
SD = 10.91), and reported a mean PTSD severity on the IES-R
of 2.04 (SD = 1.23) indicative of moderate PTSD symptoms.
Twenty-six individuals (30.2%) fulfilled a clinical PTSD diag-
nosis at the first, and 28 (32.6%) at the second interview. Neither
PTSD and depression severity scores, nor PTSD diagnosis were
significantly related to the number of specific responses (ps >
.293).
Those with longer pretrial custody duration did not retrieve
fewer specific memories in response to negative cues (r = .24,
p = .040). Those held in darkness during custody were more
specific than those not held in darkness (Mdarkness = 69.1%,
SD = 18.1% versus Mnot darkness = 56.2%, SD = 19.4%), but
this result was not significant following Bonferroni correction,
t(62)= 2.02, p = .048, d = 0.68. Finding meaning following im-
prisonment also did not significantly predict greater specificity
following Bonferroni correction (r = .26, p = .018).
However, higher levels of perceived social support following
imprisonment were significantly associated with being more
specific (r = .30, p = .006). Individuals who endorsed a sense
of embitterment at Time 2 were significantly less specific (r =
.28, p = .009). Finally, it made a difference to where partic-
ipants were released. Those released to the former GDR were
Journal of Traumatic Stress DOI 10.1002/jts. Published on behalf of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
Kleim et al.
significantly less specific to negative cues than those released to
the former West Germany, M(SD)GDR = 26.04 (11.66) versus
M(SD)FRG = 34.40 (13.25), t(76)= 2.83, p = .006, d = 0.67.
Discussion
This study sought to examine the association between overgen-
eral autobiographical memory and psychopathology, as well
as between characteristics of imprisonment-related trauma and
postimprisonment processing in former political prisoners. It is
one of the few studies of overgeneral autobiographical memory
and psychopathology in political prisoners (Wessel et al., 2002).
Overgeneral autobiographical memory was not significantly re-
lated to depression or PTSD, but we found that characteristics
of imprisonment, such as release to former GDR, as well as em-
bitterment following imprisonment were related to overgeneral
autobiographical memory. Social support was also related to
later AMT specificity. Longer pretrial custody duration, being
confined to darkness during imprisonment, and finding meaning
were not significantly related to being more specific.
Our study is not the first that failed to find associations be-
tween overgeneral autobiographical memory and psychopathol-
ogy (e.g., Hermans et al., 2004; Peeters, Wessel, Merckelbach,
& Boon-Vermeeren, 2002). Hermans et al. (2004) found that
severity and duration of physical abuse was associated with
overgeneral autobiographical memory, but overgeneral auto-
biographical memory was not significantly associated with
depression.
Release to East Germany following imprisonment, as com-
pared to release to West Germany, was associated with overgen-
eral autobiographical memory in our sample. Being released to
the East was often associated with distrust for people around
the individual, and thus possibly associated with avoidance and
later overgenerality, as well as greater self-relevance of the
trauma. The present sample was also unique in that for many
survivors of political imprisonment, the trauma included se-
vere ongoing traumatization, including aspects of interpersonal
traumatization. Such trauma-specific factors may influence the
association with later autobiographical memory retrieval. Neg-
ative attitudes toward the imprisonment in the form of em-
bitterment were associated with overgeneral autobiographical
memory in our sample. Perhaps these individuals were more
likely to form negative schemas about their imprisonment, and
this schema-based processing left a scar on their method of pro-
cessing such that autobiographical memories are laid down and
retrieved through the filter of such broad schemas. It is also pos-
sible that imprisonment was intensely emotionally painful for
some participants, leading to functional avoidance of specific
memories (Williams, 2006).
Because we failed to find relationships with psychopathology
and overgeneral autobiographical memory, but did find that em-
bitterment and other trauma-related variables, such as release
to East or West Germany, were associated with overgeneral
autobiographical memory, it suggests that qualities of trauma
processing and individual differences in these variables are
 Political Imprisonment and Autobiographical Memory
important to assess as they relate to overgeneral autobiographi-
cal memory. This is in line with the finding that it is the personal
significance of hallmark events impacting on autobiographical
memory organization (Brown et al., 2011). Individuals in our
study may also differ in whether their memories of the impris-
onment are self-defining memories and central to participants
identity and life story (Berntsen, Rubin, & Siegler, 2011). In-
deed, theories of autobiographical memory suggest that the
sense of self guides the organization and retrieval of autobio-
graphical memories (Conway, 2005).
The current findings point to protective factors from emo-
tional disturbance, such as lack of embitterment and presence of
social support. Social support has repeatedly been highlighted
as a protective factor in the development of PTSD (Brewin,
Andrews, & Valentine, 2000). Social support is likely to pro-
mote sharing of imprisonment-related memories, which in turn
may directly affect subsequent memory by repeated retrieval
and re-exposure (Hirst & Echterhoff, 2012). Embitterment
may be a key factor in the processing of such memories. Ex-
periencing the imprisonment as unjust, as a personal insult,
and as a psychological violation of basic beliefs and values
may result in the psychopathological reaction of embitterment
(Linden, Baumann, Rotter, & Schippan, 2007). This reaction
may be accompanied by avoidance, anger, self-blame, and other
cognitive and emotional reactions, which in turn may con-
tribute to overgeneral autobiographical memory. Factors, such
as embitterment and social support could be part of interven-
tion efforts for survivors of political imprisonment and other
trauma.
This study has several limitations. First, some aspects of
past traumas and of political imprisonment, such as the circum-
stances of darkness confinement (e.g., duration, associated with
other punishments, such as food and/or sleep deprivation) were
not assessed in detail. Second, we examined several correlations
and mean differences, raising the possibility of one or more
Type I errors. Although we applied the Bonferroni adjustment,
the exploratory nature of this study should be borne in mind
when considering the findings. Third, relationships between
some of these variables and later autobiographical remember-
ing are likely to have been influenced by additional variables
that were not measured in this study. Assessment times were
each more than 10 years apart, hence allowing for the test of
true prospective associations, but compromised by the lack of
assessment of such additional variables. It is also of note that
political imprisonment took place more than 40 years ago in the
present sample; it is thus difficult to compare the present results
to other results in the context of more recent trauma. Fourth, the
sample was mostly of men and the findings may not generalize
well to women, who are also at risk for political imprisonment
(Maercker & Schutzwohl, 1997).
Taken together, our results suggest that the characteristics of
political imprisonment and the processing of such experiences
influences later autobiographical remembering. A clinical im-
plication may be the strengthening or fostering of factors related
to increased memory specificity, such as lack of embitterment
Journal of Traumatic Stress DOI 10.1002/jts. Published on behalf of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
629
or social support, in primary or secondary prevention efforts in
the context of trauma.
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