Individuals with a history of trauma, particularly maltreatment, often have accurate memories for trauma-related events. This does not mean that trauma never adversely affects autobiographical memory performance; indeed, some individuals with a trauma history reveal deficits in their memory performance while others at times show memory advantages over individuals without a trauma history. We posit here that individual differences in memory may be related in part to the emotion dysregulation and psychopathology resulting from the trauma and in part to the nature of the event to be recalled. In this chapter, we focus on the scientific literature on child maltreatment, trauma-related psychopathology, and memory from a developmental psychopathology perspective. We summarize relevant theory and research on memory development, trauma-related psychopathology symptoms, and psychophysiological and neuroscience processes relevant to child maltreatment. We also review behavioral studies on childhood trauma and autobiographical memory development. We discuss the translation of such research into clinical and legal practice. We conclude with future directions for research, with the hope of moving this crucial area of study forward to spawn new insights.
