HEALTH OUTCOMES AND COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF RECALLED NEGATIVE LIFE EVENTS

Objective: Integrative complexity reflects the level of intellectual r esources allocated to coping with a particular situation or problem. T his study explored whether the recall of very unpleasant memories woul d occur at a different level of complexity from that of neutral memori es, and whether differences in complexity would be related to health o utcomes. Methods: A series of essays, some dealing with negative life experiences and others with trivial events, had been written by underg raduates for a previous study. Complexity scores of these two types of essays were compared, and were correlated with a composite measure of well-being (immunological assays, visits to the Student Health Center , and self-reported distress and substance abuse). Results: Essays abo ut negative experiences were significantly higher in complexity, imply ing the allocation of more cognitive effort to the narrative. Subjects who wrote about negative events showed a significant relationship bet ween complexity and improvement in wellness: Complexity scores closer to the median were associated with the most improvement (p < 0.05). Co nclusions: Recalling negative life experiences engages increased cogni tive effort, just as coping with negative experiences does, However, b oth low and high cognitive involvement are associated with lower level s of well-being than is a moderate level. The findings have implicatio ns for the relation between cognitive and emotional processes and betw een cognitive processes and health, as well as for the specific issue of how emotionally negative events are reconstructed in memory.