The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Semantic and Episodic Memory Performance

In this study, we examine the effects of childhood trauma on long term memory. Specifically, we hypothesized that people who experience childhood trauma would have an enhanced semantic memory and reduced episodic memory, in both quality and quantity of remembered items. Using an online survey, participants read two stories and later answered a series of questions. Demographic information was also collected at the end of the survey, including whether or not the participant had experienced trauma previously in their life, and self-rated episodic and semantic memory, GPA, and memories from three time periods in childhood. We found that trauma was associated with self-rated assessments of memories from childhood. In addition, we found that participants\u27 self-rating for episodic memory function was a good predictor for their performance in the semantic portions of the study.