ABSTRACT
Not all children react to stressful events in the same way. Some children cope surprisingly well, but others suffer adverse reverberations for years. Similarly, not all children remember stressful events in the same way; over time, some children remember traumatic events with clarity, other children recall stressful events inaccurately, and some children seem to forget that the traumatic incident occurred at all. Consider the following examples: In 1993, pictures of a 4-year-old child being molested by two adults were found in an abandoned car, but when the identity of the child was discovered and the child was interviewed, she had no recollection of ever being assaulted (“Innocent Plea,” 1993). A 4-year-old child who witnessed his sister being severely injured in an accident had a vivid and accurate memory of it 3 years later (Terr, 1990). Alternatively, a 4-year-old who experienced a stressful medical procedure remembered the core features of the event accurately but confabulated part of the rest (Goodman, Bottoms, Schwartz-Kenney, & Rudy, 1991). Why do some children form enduring, accurate memories of such experiences and others not? Developmental level and extent of trauma are undoubtedly influential; however, there might also be important individual differences in children’s ability to remember stressful experiences.
