Memories of difficult childhood experiences mostly remain stable

People who talk about difficult experiences in their childhood sometimes hear the objection that such memories are unreliable. An international analysis of 49 studies with more than 38,000 participants in total looked into this question. It compared whether people gave similar answers about violence or neglect in their childhood when asked again, on average almost two and a half years later. This was largely the case: overall, the answers matched well.

Reports of neglect and reports from children and adolescents were less consistent. If an account changes, that does not make it false. A lack of care in particular is often only recognised and put into words as distressing later on, and shame or the situation in which someone is asked can also influence what they say.

For psychotherapy this means that accounts of one's own childhood deserve to be taken seriously, and changes in them can be understood calmly. The study refers to surveys in research and cannot be transferred directly to court or police proceedings.