The effectiveness of Autobiographical Memory Specificity Training on depressive symptoms and sedentary behavior in adolescent girls with depressive disorder

Reduced specificity of memories is one of the significant cognitive processes in depression. The aim of this study was to reduce the symptoms of depression and sedentary behavior in female adolescents with depressive disorder through Memory Specificity Training.  This research was applied in terms of purpose and quasi-experimental method with pre-test, post-test with control group. The statistical population of this study included all students of 4 public and private schools in Kermanshah in 1400 who were selected by cluster random sampling. Depression test (Rindells, 1989) and sedentary behavior (Fisher et al., 2012) were then performed on 350 students of these 4 schools. From 67 students with depression higher than 60 and inactivity higher than 11 hours and 40 minutes per week, 30 were selected based on inclusion criteria and available in a simple random method in two experimental groups (15 N) and control (n = 15) were assigned. Then, the experimental group underwent memory specificity training (Rise, 2009), which was conducted in 6 group sessions of 90 minutes per week. The results of this study showed that the Autobiographical Memory Specificity Training can reduce Mobility and depressive symptoms were significant at the level (P = 0.001) in female adolescents with depression. Generally, it can be concluded that autobiographical Memory Specificity Training is an effective way to reduce depression and Sedentary behavior . Due to the ease and a low number of sessions, this training can be used along with other treatments to reduce the vulnerability to depression.