Specific topics, specific symptoms: linking the content of recurrent involuntary memories to mental health using computational text analysis

Researchers debate whether recurrent involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs; memories of one’s personal past retrieved unintentionally and repetitively) are pathological or ordinary. While some argue that these memories contribute to clinical disorders, recurrent IAMs are also common in everyday life. Here, we examined how the content of recurrent IAMs might distinguish between those that are maladaptive (related to worse mental health) versus benign (unrelated to mental health). Over two years, 6187 undergraduates completed online surveys about recurrent IAMs; those who experienced recurrent IAMs within the past year were asked to describe their memories, resulting in 3624 text descriptions. Using a previously validated computational approach (structural topic modeling), we identified coherent topics (e.g., “Conversations”, “Experiences with family members”) in recurrent IAMs. Specific topics (e.g., “Negative past relationships”, “Abuse and trauma”) were uniquely related to symptoms of mental health disorders (e.g., depression, PTSD), above and beyond the self-reported valence of these memories. Importantly, we also found that content in recurrent IAMs was distinct across symptom types (e.g., “Communication and miscommunication” was related to social anxiety, but not symptoms of other disorders), suggesting that while negative recurrent IAMs are transdiagnostic, their content remains unique across different types of mental health concerns. Our work shows that topics in recurrent IAMs—and their links to mental health—are identifiable, distinguishable, and quantifiable.