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Adults’ recollection of the earliest memories: early parental elaboration mediated the link between attachment and remembering

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Abstract

Social interactions are a major factor in organizing the earliest experiences in the memory system. In the current study, we tested the role of parental reminiscing on the relationship between parental attachment and recollection of earliest memories. The present study focused mainly on possible mediating properties of parental elaboration between the relationship of attachment and the recall of the earliest memories. We found a full mediation pattern, showing that high parental avoidance was associated with less parental elaboration, which was then linked to the earliest memories coming from a later age and poor recollection of these memories. On the other hand, although parental anxiety was related to the earliest memories coming from a later age and rich recollection of the earliest memories, the degree of parental elaboration was not found as a mediator. Findings are discussed in line with the role of the early relational and communicative input on adults’ recollections of early events.

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Data Availability

The dataset generated during and/or analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on request.

Notes

  1. We tested the fit of two competing models. In our proposed model, parental attachment variables were used as the independent variables and parental elaboration was the mediator while in the alternative model, parental elaboration was the predictor and the attachment was the mediator. When comparing the models, we models were tested independently. Although both models had acceptable fits, we compared χ2/df values and AIC-BIC indices to determine the superior model. χ2 was significant for both models, however the proposed model (1.81) has smaller compared to the alternative model (2.16). In line, AIC-BCC comparison indices were found to be smaller for the proposed model (105.54-107.75) than the proposed model (107.31-109.25), both of which suggest the plausibility of the proposed model over the alternative model.

  2. Maternal attachment variables and paternal attachment variables were tested both simultaneously in a single model and separately in distinct models. SEM with either model revealed comparable patterns for maternal and paternal attachment models. For that reason, we used the model where maternal and paternal anxiety and avoidance were tested in the same model.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Kadir Has University, 34083, Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

    Sezin Öner

  2. Department of Psychology, Koç University, 34450, Sarıyer/İstanbul, Turkey

    Sami Gülgöz

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  1. Sezin Öner
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Öner, S., Gülgöz, S. Adults’ recollection of the earliest memories: early parental elaboration mediated the link between attachment and remembering. Curr Psychol 42, 30037–30048 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03811-7

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