Memory sensitivity and its relationship with the behavioural inhibitory and activation systems and the presence of internalizing symptoms in a group of 9th to 13th graders

The present study examines the implications of ‘Memory sensitivity’ (MS), a personality trait describing the tendency to give special importance to personal memories, in a group of 658 secondary school students, who completed a series of questionnaires and tests examining behavioural inhibitory and activation systems, intelligence, and presence of internalizing traits of anxiety and depression. Results suggested that MS was higher in females than in males and was predicted by the behavioural inhibitory and activation systems while also predicting or mediating the presence of internalizing symptoms, but only in male participants. It is concluded that MS may reflect, especially in males, a specific modality of psychological functioning that could have relevant implications for their present and future life.