Contextual memory and encoding strategies in young and older adults with and without depressive symptoms

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the role of depressive symptoms associated with age on contextual memory and how this association could impair the use of strategic instructions during encoding. METHOD: Young and older controls and older adults with depressive symptoms performed memory recognition tests for item and context. RESULTS: Memory results indicated that mild depressive symptoms did not aggravate the age-related contextual memory pattern, but interfered with the magnitude of the memory enhancement provided by specific encoding instructions when compared with young adults. These between-group differences in the use of memory strategies were eliminated with the inclusion of the performance on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test as a covariate. CONCLUSION: Mild depressive symptoms were associated with an impaired ability to use incidental memory strategies at encoding, suggesting the need for further investigation on the effects of non-clinical depressive symptomatology on cognitive decline in aging.