Language use predicts phenomenological properties of Holocaust memories and health

Twenty Holocaust survivors gave extensive interviews about their experiences in the Holocaust and their lives since. This study affords a rare opportunity to explore language use and trauma using a within-subjects design. Consistent with past research which has shown that cognitive word use typically increases when describing stressful experiences, participants used a higher percentage of cognitive words when describing their Holocaust experiences, in comparison to describing non-Holocaust experiences. Four years after the interviews, participants completed memory questionnaires in relation to their Holocaust experiences and measures of physical health and cognitive functioning. The extent to which participants used an elevated use of insight words when describing their Holocaust experiences 4 years earlier was related to lower ratings of visceral emotional reactions, less avoidance and better lifetime physical health. The results are discussed in terms of how use of cognitive words when describing traumatic memories reflects adaptive psychological and coping processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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