Please, just talk to me: Self-disclosure mediates the effect of autobiographical memory specificity on adolescent self-harm and depressive symptoms in a UK population-based study

Abstract

Background

Depression and self-harm are two of the most prevalent mental health challenges experienced by adolescents. Sharing their experiences with a parental figure (herein, self-disclosure) can be an important step in getting help, and ultimately, reducing symptoms. Understanding factors that predict self-disclosure can inform public health approaches to support adolescent mental health. We evaluated whether an adolescent's ability to retrieve specific memories of both positive and negative events may be one factor which increases self-disclosure, theorising that having more specific memories would make it easier to describe and share experiences.

Methods

This pre-registered (https://osf.io/5xdns) analysis evaluated data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a UK population-based study. We hypothesised that self-disclosure would mediate the relationship between memory specificity, and depressive symptoms, self-harm, and suicide planning. Longitudinal structural equation models evaluated mediation pathways, using three waves of data collected when adolescents (N = 5785) were 13-, 14- and 16-years old. Potential confounds including baseline and cross-sectional depression were considered. Multiple imputation accounted for missing data.

Findings

Significant indirect relationships were observed for our co-primary outcomes of depressive symptoms (b = −0∙13, SE = 0∙005) and self-harm (b = −0∙02, SE = 0∙01). Higher memory specificity at age 13 predicted higher self-disclosure at age 14 (b = 0∙27, SE = 0∙07), which predicted lower depressive symptoms (b = −0∙10, SE = 0∙02) and lower odds of self-harm at age 16 (odds ratio = 0∙87 [95 % CI [0∙78–0∙97]). Models predicting suicide planning were non-significant.

Interpretation

Findings suggest that specific memory retrieval in early adolescence may help to promote self-disclosure to parental figures, and indirectly, reduce poor mental health in later adolescence.