[Experimental analysis of processing stressful information: differential and age-related psychological aspects]

In two experimental studies with older subjects, the differential accessibility of palliative interpretations of negative situations was investigated using a scenario paradigm. Short episodes (formulated in a self-referent manner) were presented on a CRT-screen. Each story contained a palliative and distressing interpretation of a negative life situation. In a recognition test, the reaction time and the error variable were used as an index of accessibility of those aspects. In a pilot study (N = 62; age of subjects 49-79 years), it was found that the dispositional tendency to reinterpret negative life situations flexibly correlates positively with the accessibility of palliative information. Using a priming approach in the main study, it was shown that this result is based on a differential moderated association of the negative life-event and the type of information (i.e., palliative or distressing) (N = 120; age of subjects: 56-80 years). Especially with respect to scenarios which are centered on age-related declines, results were more pronounced with increasing age. The results are discussed in terms of a theory which contrasts active-instrumental efforts of coping with accommodative mechanisms of adjustment and reinterpretation.