Complicated grief (CG) is associated with impairment in the ability to retrieve specific autobiographical memories. However, previous research suggests that this impairment may not occur for memories related to the deceased. We recruited conjugally bereaved adults and assessed autobiographical memory specificity for events with and without the deceased. In addition, we examined the specificity of imagined future events both with the deceased and without. Individuals with CG were no less specific than were bereaved comparison subjects when generating events that included the deceased. However, they did exhibit difficulty recalling specific past events and imagining specific future events that did not include the deceased. Difficulty generating events without the deceased may underlie the sense of lost identity and hopelessness observed in CG. Relative ease of envisioning a counterfactual future with the deceased may provide the cognitive basis for yearning. Accordingly, memory and prospection may be important targets for CG treatments.
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