Self-defining memories in complicated grief

doi:10.1016/j.brat.2008.09.003

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Volume 46, Issue 12, December 2008, Pages 1311-1315

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2008.09.003 Get rights and content

Abstract

There is increasing attention to the mechanisms underpinning maladaptive responses to bereavement. This study indexed self-defining memories in bereaved individuals with and without complicated grief (CG). Participants with and without complicated grief (N = 40) were asked to describe three self-defining memories. Results showed that CG participants provided more self-defining memories involving the deceased. Both groups were equally likely to report their loved one's death as a self-defining moment, however, the no-CG group showed more evidence of benefit finding in their memory narratives and experienced less negative emotion on recall. The findings suggest that CG is associated with distinctive patterns of autobiographical memory that are linked to self-identity. The pattern is consistent with self-memory system models of autobiographical remembering, and suggests that grieving individuals who experience ongoing yearning for their loved one view their self-identity as more closely linked to the deceased are more distressed by memories involving the loss.

Section snippets

Participants

Twenty individuals who met diagnostic criteria for CG and 20 bereaved individuals without CG participated (no-CG) in this study. CG participants were seeking treatment for their grief symptoms at the Traumatic Stress Clinic in Sydney. No-CG participants responded to an advertisement seeking volunteers for a research project investigating grief experiences. Participants were excluded from this study if they met criteria for a current diagnosis of PTSD. Additional exclusion criteria for the no-CG

Participant characteristics

Table 1 indicates that participants in the two groups did not differ in terms of age or time since the death. Chi square analysis revealed no differences between groups in terms of relationship to the deceased or suddenness of the death. As expected, CG participants had significantly higher scores than no-CG participants on the CGA [t(24.56) = −21.04, p < .001]. In the CG sample, 13 (65%) participants met diagnostic criteria for major depression according to the SCID.

Memory content

The proportions of Deceased

Discussion

This study indexed the self-defining memories of bereaved individuals with and without CG. As predicted, participants with CG reported more self-defining memories that were related to the deceased. It appears that bereaved individuals with CG perceive their self-identity as being more strongly influenced by their deceased loved one than bereaved individuals who do not have CG. This pattern of results is consistent with propositions from Conway and Pleydell-Pearce's self-memory system model.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant (300304).

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Shorter communicationSelf-defining memories in complicated grief

Abstract

Section snippets

Participants

Participant characteristics

Memory content

Discussion

Acknowledgments

Clinical Psychology Review

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

Clinical Psychology Review

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Psychiatry Research

Lancet

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

Personal growth in adults' stories of life transition

Journal of Personality

Four dimensions of self-defining memories (specificity, meaning, content, and affect) and their relationships to self-restraint, distress and repressive defensiveness

Journal of Personality

The development of a clinician administered PTSD scale

Journal of Traumatic Stress

Complicated grief and uncomplicated grief are distinguishable constructs

Psychiatry Research

Traumatic grief as a disorder distinct from bereavement-related depression and anxiety: a replication study with bereaved mental health care patients

American Journal of Psychiatry

A cognitive-behavioural conceptualization of complicated grief

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice

Resilience to loss in bereaved spouses, bereaved parents, and bereaved gay men

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Attachment and loss: Vol. 3. Loss: Sadness and depression

Autobiographical memory in depression: state or trait marker?

British Journal of Psychiatry

Impaired specific autobiographical memory as a risk factor for posttraumatic stress after trauma

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system

Psychological Review

The self and autobiographical memory: correspondence and coherence

Social Cognition

Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Redefining goals and redefining self: a closer look at posttraumatic growth following loss

Autobiographical memories and views of the future: in relation to dysphoria

International Journal of Psychology

Autobiographical memory and problem solving strategies of parasuicide patients

Psychological Medicine

Attachment style in adjustment to conjugal bereavement

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I disorders, research version, patient edition (SCID-I/P)

Grief and cognitive-behavioral therapy: the reconstruction of meaning

Attachment and loss: a test of three competing models on the association between attachment-related avoidance and adaptation to bereavement

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Shorter communication
Self-defining memories in complicated grief