Suppression and Memory for Childhood Traumatic Events: Trauma Symptoms and Non‐Disclosure

Self‐reported lost memory of child sexual abuse (CSA) can be mistaken for “repressed memory.” Based on our longitudinal studies of memory and disclosure in child maltreatment victims who are now adults, we discuss findings relevant to “repressed memory cases.” We examined relations between self‐report of temporarily lost memory of CSA (subjective forgetting) and memory accuracy for maltreatment‐related experiences (objective memory). Across two studies involving separate samples, we find evidence for memory suppression rather than repression: (1) Most adults who claimed temporary lost memory of CSA reported memory suppression and clarified that they could have remembered the event if asked; (2) subjective forgetting was positively associated with accurate objective memory for maltreatment‐related experiences. Subjective forgetting was also related to increased adult trauma symptoms and related to childhood non‐disclosure of CSA. Moreover, trauma‐related psychopathology mediated the relation between non‐disclosure and subjective forgetting. Implications for psychological theory and repressed memory cases are discussed. Self‐reported forgetting of child sexual abuse (CSA) may be misattributed to repressed memory. Using evidence from two longitudinal studies with separate maltreatment samples, we identify memory suppression as a more viable explanation than repression for CSA memory that has been reportedly lost and then retrieved. Important relations between self‐reported lost memory of CSA, accuracy of abuse‐related memory, childhood non‐disclosure of CSA, and adult trauma symptoms emerged, with significant legal implications.