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I am an ESRC New Investigator and Senior Scientist on the Cognition, Emotion, and Mental Health Programme. My research investigates the cognitive processes that contribute to the development and maintenance of emotional disorders. My work advances understanding of the cognitive mechanisms that drive emotional disturbance, and draws from experimental cognitive science to develop novel therapeutic interventions.

Specifically, I am interested in:

  • Methods for enhancing current psychological treatment approaches, and to reduce primary and secondary risk of psychological disorders
  • How the recall of autobiographical memories relates to prognosis for depression and PTSD
  • Whether autobiographical memory-based intervention is able to improve symptoms of emotional disturbance
  • Identification of cognitive processes common across psychological disorders, and development of transdiagnostic interventions which target these processes

Publications:

Hitchcock, C., Goodall, B., … Dalgleish, T. (2021). The acute course and treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in very young children: Diagnostic prevalence and predictors in hospital-attending children and a randomised controlled proof-of-concept trial of trauma-focused cognitive therapy for 3-8 year olds. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. doi:10.1111/jcpp.13460

Moradi, A. R., Piltan, M., … Hitchcock, C. (2021). Proof-of-concept for the autobiographical Memory Flexibility (MemFlex) intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Clinical Psychological Science.  doi: 10.1177/2167702620982576

Piltan, M., Moradi, A. R., Chobin, M. H., Azadfallah, P., Eskandari, S., & Hitchcock, C. (2021).  Impaired autobiographical memory flexibility in Iranian trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder. Clinical Psychological Science.  doi: 10.1177/2167702620953637

Hitchcock, C., Goodall, B., Sharples, O., Meiser-Stedman, R., Watson, P., Ford, T., & Dalgleish, T. (2021). Population prevalence of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder subtype for young children in nationwide surveys of the British general population and of children-in-care. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. doi:  10.1016/j.jaac.2020.12.036

Hitchcock, C., Smith, A. J., Elliott, R., O’Leary, C., Gormley, S., Parker, J., ... & Dalgleish, T. (2021). A randomized, controlled proof-of-concept trial evaluating durable effects of Memory Flexibility Training (MemFlex) on autobiographical memory distortions and on relapse of recurrent Major Depressive Disorder over 12 months. Behaviour Research and Therapy. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103835

Barry, T. J., Hallford, D. J., Hitchcock, C., Takano, K., & Raes, F. (2021). The current state of Memory Specificity Training (MeST) for emotional disorders. Current Opinion in Psychology. doi:  10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.02.002

de Haan, A., Hitchcock, C., Meiser-Stedman, R., Landolt, M. A., Kuhn, I., ... & Dalgleish, T. (2021). Efficacy and moderators of efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapies in children and adolescents: protocol for an individual participant data meta-analysis from randomised trials. BMJ Open11. e047212.

Elliott, R., McKinnon, A., Dixon, C., Boyle, A., …. Hitchcock, C. (2020). Prevalence and predictive value of ICD-11 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD diagnoses in children and adolescents exposed to a single-event trauma. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 62. 270-276.

Werner-Seidler, A., Hitchcock, C., Hammond, E., Hill, E., … Dalgleish, T. (2020) Emotional complexity across the life story: Elevated negative emodiversity and diminished positive emodiversity in sufferers of recurrent depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 273. 106-112.

Clifford, G., Hitchcock, C., & Dalgleish, T. (2020). Fractured pasts: The structure of the life story in sexual-trauma survivors with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Clinical Psychological Science, 8. 723-738.

Clifford, G., Hitchcock, C., & Dalgleish, T. (2020). Negative and positive emotional complexity in the autobiographical representations of sexual trauma survivors. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 126, 103551.

Hitchcock, C., Newby, J., Jarvis, E., Howard, R., Golden, A-M., Kuyken, W., & Dalgleish, T. (2019). Memory fluency for positive and negative autobiographical events in depression: Performance on the Good Day - Bad Day Task.  Journal of Experiment Psychology: General, 149. 198-206.

Clifford, G., Hitchcock, C., & Dalgleish, T. (2019). Compartmentalization of self-representations in female survivors of sexual abuse and assault, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Psychological Medicine, 50. 956-963.                 

Schweizer, S., Satpute, A., Atzil, S., Hitchcock, C., Black, M., Field, A., Dalgleish, T., & Feldman Barrett, L. (2019). The behavioral and neural effects of affective information on working memory performance: A pair of meta-analytic reviews. Psychological Bulletin, 145, 566-609.

Hitchcock, C., Rodrigues, E., Rees, C., Gormley, S., Dritschel, B., & Dalgleish, T. (2019) Misremembrance of things past: Depression is associated with difficulties in the recollection of both specific and categoric autobiographical memories. Clinical Psychological Science, 7, 693-700.  

Hitchcock, C., Rudokaite, J., Patel, S., Smith, A., Kuhn, I., Watkins, E., & Dalgleish, T. (2019). Role of autobiographical memory in patient response to cognitive behavioural therapies for depression: protocol of an individual patient data meta-analysis. British Medical Journal: Open9, e031110.

Hitchcock, C., Gormley, S., Rees, C., Panesar, I., Gillard, J., Chadwick, I., Watson, P., Hammond, E., Werner-Seidler, A., & Dalgleish, T.  (2018).  A randomised controlled trial of Memory Flexibility training (MemFlex) to enhance memory flexibility and reduce depressive symptomatology in individuals with Major Depressive Disorder. Behavior Research and Therapy, 110, 22-30.

Clifford, G., Dalgleish, T., & Hitchcock, C. (2018). Prevalence of auditory pseudohallucinations in adult survivors of physical and sexual trauma with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Behaviour Research and Therapy111, 113-118.

Hitchcock, C.*, Werner-Seidler, A.*, Bevan, A., McKinnon, A., Breakwell, L., Mueller, V., Gillard, J., Chadwick, I., Schweizer, S., Raes, F., & Dalgleish, T. (2018). A comparison of MEmory Specificity Training (MEST) to education and support (ES) in the treatment of recurrent depression: A randomised controlled trial. Behavior Research and Therapy, 105, 1-9.                            * joint first author

Clifford, G., Meiser-Stedman, R., Johnson, R. D.., Hitchcock, C., & Dalgleish, T. (2018). Developing an emotion- and memory-focused group intervention for complex posttraumatic stress: A case series. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9, 1495980.

Black. M., Hitchcock, C., Bevan, A., O’Leary, C., … Dalgleish, T. (2018). The HARMONIC trial: Study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial of Shaping Healthy Minds – a modular transdiagnostic intervention for mood, stress and anxiety disorders in adults. British Medical Journal: Open, 8, e024546.

Jobson, L., Miskon, N., Dalgleish, T., Hitchcock, C., Hill, E., Golden, A-M., Zulkefly, S., & Mukhtar. F. (2018). Impact of culture on autobiographical life structure in depression. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57, 382-396.

Hitchcock, C., Gormley, S., Griffiths, K., Chadwick, I., Gillard, J., Hammond, E., Werner-Seidler, A., & Dalgleish T. (2018). Protocol for a randomised, controlled trial of autobiographical memory flexibility training (MemFlex) for reducing relapse of recurrent Major Depressive Disorder. British Medical Journal: Open, 8, e018194.

Hitchcock, C., Golden, A-M., Werner-Seidler, A., Kuyken, W., & Dalgleish, T. (2017). The impact of affective context on autobiographical recollection in depression. Clinical Psychological Science, 6, 315-324.

Hitchcock, C., Rees, C., & Dalgleish, T. (2017). The devil’s in the detail: Access to specific personal memories supports rose-tinted self-generalizations in mental health and toxic self-generalizations in clinical depression. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146, 1286-1295.

Hitchcock, C., Werner-Seidler, A., Blackwell, S. E., & Dalgleish, T. (2017). Autobiographical episodic memory-based training for the treatment of mood, anxiety and stress-related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 52, 92-107.

Travers-Hill, E., Dunn, B. D., Hoppitt, L., Hitchcock, C., & Dalgleish, T. (2017). Beneficial effects of training in self-distancing and perspective broadening for people with a history of recurrent depression. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 95, 19-28. 

Hitchcock, C., & Westwell, M. S. (2017). A cluster-randomised, controlled trial of the impact of Cogmed Working Memory Training on both academic performance and regulation of social, emotional and behavioural challenges. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58, 140-150.

Norton, P. J., Gorji, A., Bahmani, D. S., Brand, S., Burgmer, M., Cabrera, C., Deacon, B. J., Drummond, S. P. A., Hitchcock, C., Rosenbaum, S., & Ward, P. B. (2017). Trauma, anxiety, and depression in Iran: A report from the 3rd International Anxiety Congress in Iran. The Behavior Therapist, 40, 192-194.

Hitchcock, C., Mueller, V., Hammond, E., Rees, C., Werner-Seidler, A., & Dalgleish, T. (2016). The effects of autobiographical Memory Flexibility training (MemFlex): An uncontrolled trial in individuals in remission from depression. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 52, 92-98.

Hitchcock, C., Ellis, A., Williamson, P., & Nixon, R. (2015). The prospective role of cognitive appraisals and social support in predicting children’s posttraumatic stress. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43, 1485-1492.

Hitchcock, C., Hammond, E., Rees, C., Panesar, I., Watson, P., Werner-Seidler, A., & Dalgleish, T. (2015). Memory Flexibility training (MemFlex) to enhance memory flexibility and reduce depressive symptomatology in individuals with Major Depressive Disorder: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials, 16, 1-8.

Dalgleish, T., Bevan, A., McKinnon, A., Breakwell, L., Mueller, V., Chadwick, I., Schweizer, S., Hitchcock, C., Raes, F., & Werner-Seidler, A. (2014). A comparison of MEmory Specificity Training (MEST) to education and support (ES) in the treatment of recurrent depression: Protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial. Trials, 15, 293-302.

Hitchcock, C., Nixon, R. D. V., & Weber, N. A (2014). A longitudinal examination of overgeneral memory and psychopathology in children following recent trauma exposure. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 531–538.

Hitchcock, C., Nixon, R. D. V., & Weber, N. (2014). A review of overgeneral memory in child psychopathology. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 170- 193.

 

 

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