Is it bad to have secrets? Cognitive preoccupation as a toxic element of secrecy1

This ex post facto study examined the effect of secrecy on well-being in a sample of 287 HIV-positive individuals, using both self-report data and objective immune parameters. The effects on well-being of three components of secrecy were studied; self-concealment, possession of a secret, and cognitive preoccupation. Confirming our hypotheses, we found a positive effect of possession of a secret on quality of life, depression and anxiety, but only after controlling for both self-concealment and cognitive preoccupation. The effects of self-concealment and cognitive preoccupation on wellbeing were negative. Since cognitive preoccupation partly mediated the effect of selfconcealment on well-being, we concluded that cognitive preoccupation is a toxic element of secrecy. Our results imply that HIV-positive individuals that keep their serostatus secret are not per se at risk to directly experience negative effects of concealing their serostatus, as long as they do not have a disposition to conceal personal information and do not ruminate about their secret(s).