When a person goes through a traumatic experience, they often find themselves thinking that what happened could have been different or even avoided. This process, known as counterfactual thinking, is an automatic psychological response to adverse events. Now, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports explores how this type of thinking affects women who have suffered an early pregnancy loss.
The study's findings show that counterfactual thinking is highly prevalent in these cases, and that it may initially serve an adaptive function: it may help individuals to process their loss and redefine future goals, such as the possibility of a new pregnancy.
The study is led by the experts Antoni Borrell, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Barcelona and a member of BCNatal Fetal Medicine Research Center at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, and Aida Mallorquí, a clinical psychologist in the Clinical Health Psychology Section at Hospital Clínic. The study was conducted in collaboration with Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells, from the UB's Faculty of Psychology and the Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro) and the Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL).
Imagining alternative ways of living better
The nature of the cognitive processes resulting from perinatal loss remains poorly understood. This new study examines the prevalence and time progression of counterfactual thinking in a cohort of 119 women immediately following an early pregnancy loss. Using an online psychological assessment, the researchers analysed the traumatic impact, rumination and the frequency of this type of thinking.
"This longitudinal study is the first to immediately follow a large sample of women to from the immediate aftermath to study a phenomenon that can affect mental health after pregnancy loss," notes specialist Aida Mallorquí, the article's lead author.
"Interestingly - she continues - until now, most studies on trauma and counterfactual thinking have been based on people assessed years after the traumatic event, which limits our understanding of this type of psychological response."
