Assessment of different components of executive function in grief.

Abstract

Intense and complex symptoms of grief seem to be related to a series of biases and difficulties in areas such as attention, autobiographical memory and problem solving. However, studies of neuropsychological performance have reported contradictory evidence. The role of executive function (EF) in bereaved individuals has not been systematically studied by differentiating between its components. A total of 38 participants who had experienced the death of a loved one participated in this study. They were divided into two groups based on the intensity of their symptoms. They underwent neuropsychological assessments that included measures of flexibility, inhibition, working memory and emotional decision-making. Group differences were found in the parts of the emotional decision-making task that assessed decisions made under risk. Considering each participant’s level of education and emotional variables, the symptoms of grief predicted a substantial variance in their performance in the decision-making task. Intense symptoms of grief seem to be related to poorer emotional decision-making performance but not to flexibility, inhibition or working memory.