Edad como factor modulador de las características de recuerdos traumáticos

Abstract

This study analyzes the possible differences in the characteristics of the memories of the terrorist attacks on March 11th according to two different age groups (children-adults). 58 participants complete Phenomenological Questionnaire for Autobiographical Memory (CCFRA). The results show that the processing of the information is different for both age groups. The children group remembers it as shorter, in a less familiar place, with a smaller significance and with more negative feelings, although with less intensity than the adults group. Moreover, the children group shows a worse sensorial information memory in visual details, acoustic details and contextual details, showing a more vague memory for the where, when, part of the year and hour when the incident happened. Regarding the quality of the memories, the children’s group remembers less vividly, with less definition and more schematically. Finally, for the younger group the memories are less accessible, showing more effort than the adult’s group when remembering the event. We conclude that, when evaluating witness credibility of a past traumatic event, the age of the victim when the event took place should be taken into account. This way, credibility evaluation protocols based in content analysis could lead to wrong conclusions if the influence factors that could alter the testimony characteristics are not considered.