The effectiveness of autobiographical memory specificity training on depression and co-rumination in depressed students

Reduced specificity of memories is one of the significant cognitive processes in depression. This study aimed to examine the impact of autobiographical memory specificity training on depression and co-rumination in depressed female students of Isfahan University in 2018.

The research was semi-experimental and designed using the pre-test and post-test for both experimental and control groups with a two-month follow-up period. Twenty depressed female students were selected as purposive sampling, and they were randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control. The research tools were the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Co-Rumination Questionnaire (CQ). The experimental group underwent autobiographical memory specificity training for five sessions per week, and the control group received no intervention. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance.

 According to the results of the research, the autobiographical Memory Specificity Training led to improved depression in the experimental group in the post-test (P>0.05) and follow-up (P<0.05). Consequently, the results showed that the autobiographical memory specificity training had no significant effect on the experimental group's co-rumination scores in the post-test and follow-up.

Generally, it can be concluded that autobiographical Memory Specificity Training is an effective way to reduce depression. Due to the ease and a low number of sessions, this training can be used along with other treatments to reduce the vulnerability to depression.