Boer, Nynke de (2023) Counterfactual thoughts in prolonged grief: A phenomenological analysis. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Losing a loved one could lead to persistent grief or development of a prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Gaining knowledge on changeable processes present in psychological outcomes of bereavement, could help improve treatments for prolonged grief. One such process concerns counterfactual thoughts (“what-if”-thoughts), which represent how negative outcomes could have been avoided. This study is one of the first studies exploring counterfactual thoughts in PGD and aims to describe the validity, actor, subject, and direction of a self-generated counterfactual thought by people with probable PGD versus people without PGD. We specifically expected that people with probable PGD (vs. without) experience more self-referent, upward counterfactual thoughts related to the cause of the loss. Generation and analysis of data (N = 218, adult men and women that lost a loved one) led to a description of counterfactual thoughts between the probable-PGD (n = 70) and non-PGD group (n = 148). Main findings represent more cause of loss-related counterfactual thoughts in the probable PGD-group and more general loss-related counterfactual thoughts in the non-PGD group. Probable-PGD participants do not experience more self-referent upward counterfactual thoughts related to the cause of the loss. The validity, actor and direction also do not differ between the groups. Despite limitations (e.g., limited power) this study provides insight in the nature of counterfactual thoughts generated by people with probable PGD (vs. without PGD). Findings from this study may be used as targets in treatments for prolonged grief, so that these treatments may lead to more clinically relevant improvement in patients. Keywords: counterfactual thoughts, bereavement, prolonged grief disorder
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Eisma, M.C. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Psychology (CP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Mar 2023 13:35 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Mar 2023 13:35 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1858 |
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