trauma films article emily holmes flashbacks flash forwards person

U N C O R R E C T E D P R O O F 1 2 Inducing and modulating intrusive emotional memories: A review 3 of the trauma film paradigm 4 Emily A. Holmes * , Corin Bourne 5 Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK 6 Received 20 October 2006; received in revised form 1 October 2007; accepted 12 November 2007 7 8 Abstract 9 Highly affect-laden memory intrusions are a feature of several psychological disorders with intrusive images of trauma especially asso- 10 ciated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The trauma film paradigm provides a prospective experimental tool for investigating 11 analogue peri- traumatic cognitive mechanisms unde rlying intrusion develop ment. We review several historical papers and some more 12 recent key studies that have used the trauma film paradigm. A heuristic diagram is presented, designed to simplify predictions about 13 analogue peri-traumatic processing and intrusion development, which can also be related to the processing elements of recent cognitive 14 models of PTSD. Results show intrusions can be induced in the laboratory and their frequency amplified/attenuated in line with predic- 15 tions. Successful manipulations include competing task type (visuospatial vs. verbal) and use of a cognitive coping strategy. Studies show 16 that spontaneous peri-traumatic dissociation also affects intrusion frequency although attempts to manipulate dissociation have failed. It 17 is hoped that further use of this paradigm may lead to prophylactic training for at risk groups and an improved understanding of intru- 18 sions across psychopathologies. 19 Ó 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V. 20 PsycINFO classification: 2340 21 Keywords: Intrusiv e memorie s; Trauma film; Post-tr aumati c stress disorder; Peri-tr aumatic processin g; Imagery ; Cognit ive mechanis ms; Stressful film; 22 Visuospatial 23 24 1. Introduction 25 Int rusive memori es, or int rusi ons, are inv oluntary rec ol- 26 lections re lati ng to events that appe ar, a ppa rently spon ta- 27 ne ously , i n c onsciousness (e.g. Brewin & Saunders, 2001; 28 Davies & Clark, 1998b; Halligan, Clark, & Ehlers, 2002; 29 Holmes, Brewin, & Hennes sy, 200 4; Schlag man, Kva vi- 30 lashv ili, & Schulz , 2006 ). Intrusions can be contra sted with 31 the de liberat e recolle ction of events or repeat ed ver ba l 32 rumin at ion over such eve nt s. Whi lst intrusions can take 33 th e form of either se nsory me nt al image s or verbal 34 thoug hts our main interest is to under stand mental imagery 35 based i ntru sions ( i.e. those wh ich h ave a se nso ry co mpo- 36 nent such as mental picture or sounds). This focus mirrors 37 bot h clinical phe nomenology and als o hea lthy autobi o- 38 graphical memories for emotional events. Several studies 39 hav e suggested tha t emotion al memories typically tak e 40 the form of mental ima ges irr espe ctive of whether suc h 41 memories are intrusive or deliberately recalled ( Arntz, de 42 Groot, & Kindt, 2005; Conway , 2001) and, conver sely , 43 imag er y seems to have a sp ecial impa ct on emotion 44 (Holmes & Mathews, 2005). 45 Int rus ive memori es occur oft en in eve ryday life with 46 studies in non-clinical populations suggesting that their fre- 47 quency is approximately 2–4 a day (Berntsen, 1996) or 1–5 48 a day (Mace, 2005), although they occur less frequently 49 than verbal thoughts (Br ewin, Chri stodoul ides J., & 50 Hutchinson, 1996). However, these common, unsolicite d 51 recollections typically present no concern for the experienc- 52 er and can give rise to positive as well as negative affect. In 0001-6918/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.11.002 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 (0) 1865 223 912; fax: +44 (0) 1865 223 948. E-mail address: [email protected] (E.A. Holmes). www.elsevier.com/locate/actpsy Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Acta Psychologica xxx (2007) xxx–xxx ACTPSY 1241 No. of Pages 14, Model 5+ 4 Dece mber 200 7 Disk Us ed ARTI CLE IN PRESS Please cite this article in press as: Holmes, E. A. , & Bourne, C., Inducing and modulating intrusive emotional memories: A review ..., Acta Psychologica (2007), doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.11.002

trauma films article emily holmes flashbacks flash forwards person

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