This study investigated differences in implicit and explicit memory bias patterns between anxious and depressed subjects. Research suggests that anxious and depressed individuals may be distinguished by mood-congruent memory biases for disorder-specific information. Pre-screened psychology students were given a structured clinical interview, and those who met DSM III-R criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or a depressive disorder were used in the study. The sample included 24 GADs, 23 depressives, and 26 control subjects. Each subject completed the following measures: Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression and Anxiety. Subjects were given a modified Stroop Color-naming task to implicitly encode 4 types of words (threat, depression-relevant, positive, and neutral). Subjects completed 3 unanticipated memory tasks (cued, noncued, and recognition) to test their implicit and explicit memory for the words. Findings confirmed that GADs and depressives differ from each other, as well as from controls, in their memory biases. Each diagnostic group exhibited a mutually-exclusive implicit memory bias for words that were congruent with their mood state. The depressed group showed a mood-congruent explicit memory bias for depression-relevant words. GADs showed opposing patterns of implicit and explicit memory for threat words. Depressives showed similar patterns of implicit and explicit memory bias for depression-relevant words. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the role of implicit memory in emotional disorders, a cognitive reconceptualization of "repression", a proposed model for GAD, and a proposed relationship between GAD and depression.
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