Life events, predisposing cognitive strategies and well-being

To investigate the extent to which the cognitive strategies people apply in various situations, and their subjective well-being, predispose them to certain life events, 210 students filled in questionnaires measuring their strategy use, self-esteem, and depression at the beginning of their studies. Self-esteem and depression were also measured four and five years later. The participants also filled in a life-event questionnaire yearly between the first and last measurements. Four groups were identified based on the patterns of positive and negative life events. Moreover, the cognitive strategies young adults reported at the beginning of their studies, and their well-being, were found to predict group membership. Those who had experienced many positive and only few negative life events showed high well-being and adaptive strategies, whereas those who had faced many negative but only few positive events reported low well-being and self-protective strategies. Groups that experienced many positive and many negative, or only few positive and few negative events, were in between these two extremes. Life event patterning was also found to influence later well-being.