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

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.