Content area
Abstract
In this dissertation, we explore physiological correlates of psychosocial experiences to better understand the mechanisms through which cumulative life experiences relate to health and well-being. We examine detailed psychosocial and physiological data from the Health and Life Histories sub-sample of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.
In Chapter Two, we investigate relationships between psychological well-being and resting asymmetry in six pairs of symmetric locations in the prefrontal cortex. Many sub-scales of psychological well-being and positive and negative affect are positively correlated with left-side asymmetry. Using a novel method of characterizing asymmetry that incorporates within-individual variation, however, left-side asymmetry is negatively correlated with the sub-scales of autonomy and environmental mastery for men and women, respectively.
In Chapter Three, we integrate qualitative and quantitative data to develop a taxonomy of life experience pathways. We utilize personal writing samples about self-selected emotional experiences to identify an individualized weighting scheme for the survey data. In addition, we develop an index for strength of emotional response to life experiences.
In Chapter Four, we introduce the use of a recursive partitioning (RP) methodology to provide a more specific method of assessing mortality risk at a seven-year follow-up than the elevated-risk zone method. People with a cumulation of negative life experiences are more likely to have biological markers that correlate to a high mortality risk. Conversely, people with a cumulation of positive life experiences are more likely to belong to a low mortality risk zone. Among people with mostly positive life experiences, we find a sex difference in the relationship between the strength of emotional response and mortality risk.
Chapter Five investigates the relationship between asymmetry in the prefrontal cortex and life experience pathways. We find that people in either the positive or negative life experience pathway are more likely than people in the mixed life experience pathways to have left-side prefrontal asymmetry. In men, we also find a negative relationship between strength of emotional response and left-side prefrontal asymmetry score. We do not find a relationship between within-individual variation and life experience pathway. We conclude with recommendations for a broader vision of health and health research.
