How Depression, Age and Specificity Shapes the Content of Autobiographical Thoughts
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Autobiographical cognition is shaped by mood, age and thought specificity. In this online study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated whether interactions between these individual differences influence the content of past and future autobiographical thoughts. We used a Sentence Completion Task to collect 3654 autobiographical thoughts (N=203; aged 18-74; approximately half exhibiting depressive symptoms). Text responses were scored for specificity, and processed using Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC). To leverage the richness of narrative responses, LIWC data were submitted to PCA to yield “content profiles”. Multiple linear regression showed significant associations between age, depression and specificity and the expression of content profiles. Crucially, the findings emphasize the importance of considering the interactivity between thought specificity, age and severity of depressive symptoms on thought content, as well as salient and ongoing experiences, such as the pandemic, that leave distinct impressions on how we think about ourselves and our lives.
