Self-attention, life stress, and illness: a prospective study

Using a prospective design, this study examined the hypothesis that a predisposition to focus on internal aspects of the self serves as a stress resistance resource. One hundred and twenty subjects filled out the Private Self-Consciousness inventory, a schedule of recent life events and a symptom checklist. Two months later they were asked again to report life events and symptoms that had occurred in the interval. Data were analyzed by means of hierarchical panel analysis. The results showed, consistent with the hypothesis, that incidence of stressful life events predicted subsequent illness among persons low in private self-consciousness but not in persons high in private self-consciousness. It is proposed that the tendency on the part of persons low in private self-consciousness to disattend to their psychologic and somatic reactions to stressful life events and to fail to take corrective actions may lead to lowered body resistance over time and hence increase their susceptibility to physical illness. The results are interpreted as consistent with Schwartz's concept of disregulation and control systems analysis of health behavior and Leventhal's work on the role of internal monitoring for coping with stress.