THE UNDOING OF TRAUMATIC LIFE EVENTS

Counterfactuals generated by victims of traumatic events were examined to elucidate their significance for the coping process. In Study 1, r espondents were interviewed 4-7 years after the loss of their spouse o r child in a motor vehicle accident. In Study 2, respondents were inte rviewed at 3 weeks and 18 months following the death of their child fr om Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Across both studies, (a) counterfactu als were commonly reported; (b) the focus of counterfactuals was typic ally on one's own (in)actions, rather than on the behavior of others; (c) the more frequently respondents were undoing the event, the more d istress they reported; and (d) this relation held after controlling fo r more general ruminations. These field studies demonstrate that even in situations that lack the highly mutable circumstances described in scenario research, people coping with traumatic events appear unhinder ed in their ability to generate counterfactuals. Theoretical implicati ons, with an emphasis on field studies of undoing, are discussed.