How bad turns into worse: Repetitive negative thinking as a vulnerability factor for bodily symptom memory bias.

In the doctor's office, people are often asked to rate their previously experienced symptoms. These ratings are crucial in guiding medical diagnosis, treatment, and health behaviors, so their accuracy is very important. However, research has shown that retrospective symptom ratings are frequently higher than initial ratings. Although numerous studies have explored factors leading to this recall bias, it remains unknown how thinking back about the past can affect the way people remember their bodily symptoms. This project will explore the role of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) in symptom memory bias. RNT refers to thinking over and over again about the past experience, its unpleasant aspects, and its causes, meanings, and consequences. I expect that RNT about the negative aspects and consequences of symptoms will lead to more inaccurate and negative memories, as well as to greater retrospective symptom overreporting. I will also examine if the negative effects of RNT on symptom reporting can be counteracted by training individuals to focus on specific details of the experience instead. Those hypotheses will be tested in three work packages including two laboratory experiments in a healthy population and a diary study in a clinical sample. In doing so, I aim to provide new insights into mechanisms underlying symptom overreporting and provide suggestions for new treatment options