The relationship with the future after loss: A cognitive perspective on the grieving process

This study aimed to examine the relationships between grief rumination and prolonged grief, as well as grief rumination and depression from the perspective of the cognitivebehavioral approach. It was expected that grief rumination would be positively associated with future imagination and thus with increased symptoms of prolonged grief and depression. Another aim of the study was to examine whether different time perspective groups named time restrictive, futurist, reminiscers, and time expanse differed in terms of depression and prolonged grief. It was expected that the time expansive would show lower symptoms of depression and prolonged grief compared to the other time perspective groups. The study sample consisted of 311 participants aged between 18 and 80 who had lost a first-degree relative. The inclusion criterion was that individuals experienced the loss at least six months and at most five years ago. In this study, the Balanced Time Perspective Scale, which was developed to measure time perspective orientations, and the Four Factor Imagination Scale, which aims to measure imagining the future, were translated into Turkish. The Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS), Four-Factor Imagination Scale (FFIS), Utrecht Grief Rumination Scale (UGRS), Prolonged Grief Inventory-Revised Form (PG-13-R), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used in the study. For the analysis, structural equation modeling and MANOVA were conducted. The findings demonstrated that future imagination mediated the relationship between grief rumination and prolonged grief, as well as the relationship between grief rumination and depression. Furthermore, the time expansive group demonstrated lower depression symptoms compared with the time restrictive group.