Higher Levels Of Defensiveness Research Articles

Mandated Treatment for Troubled Adolescents and Substance Use Disorder: Identifying and Breaking Through Defensiveness and Denial

Objective This article presents an investigation of the defensiveness demonstrated by teens who are mandated to participate in treatment as compared to their non-mandated peers. Methods The data for this study was collected as part of The Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI) Institute’s third iteration of the Adolescent SASSI-A3. A total of 164 teenagers in treatment served as the dataset for the present study. All participant cases were provided by clinicians working in service settings throughout all U.S. Census Regions and serving in a variety of venues including substance use treatment, criminal justice programs, community corrections, private clinical practices, behavioral health centers, and social service organizations. Results We present two brief de-identified treatment case studies, aptly demonstrating defensiveness and denial from a clinical standpoint. Additionally, we review cases demonstrating high-levels of defensiveness and denial in mandated teen clients, and ethical ways to break through that barrier to treatment engagement. Conclusion Working with teens can be extremely difficult given their rapid mood changes, intensely felt experiences and shifting states of compliance, openness and defiance. When teens are mandated for treatment, they may often feel their choices have been taken away and the counselor may be viewed as more of a power authority rather than a concerned and helping figure. Contingencies placed on the teen as part of the mandated treatment experience are generally the primary focus, rather than addressing their underlying substance use disorder (SUD). As a result, the teen, as well as the counselor, require greater focus than just making sure those requirements are met

A Phytochrome B-Independent Pathway Restricts Growth at High Levels of Jasmonate Defense.

The plant hormone jasmonate (JA) promotes resistance to biotic stress by stimulating the degradation of JASMONATE ZIM-DOMAIN (JAZ) proteins, which relieves repression on MYC transcription factors that execute defense programs. JA-triggered depletion of JAZ proteins in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is also associated with reduced growth and seed production, but the mechanisms underlying these pleiotropic growth effects remain unclear. Here, we investigated this question using an Arabidopsis JAZ-deficient mutant (jazD; jaz1-jaz7, jaz9, jaz10, and jaz 13) that exhibits high levels of defense and strong growth inhibition. Genetic suppressor screens for mutations that uncouple growth-defense tradeoffs in the jazD mutant identified nine independent causal mutations in the red-light receptor phytochrome B (phyB). Unlike the ability of the phyB mutations to completely uncouple the mild growth-defense phenotypes in a jaz mutant (jazQ) defective in JAZ1, JAZ3, JAZ4, JAZ9, and JAZ10, phyB null alleles only weakly alleviated the growth and reproductive defects in the jazD mutant. phyB-independent growth restriction of the jazD mutant was tightly correlated with upregulation of the Trp biosynthetic pathway but not with changes in central carbon metabolism. Interestingly, jazD and jazD phyB plants were insensitive to a chemical inhibitor of Trp biosynthesis, which is a phenotype previously observed in plants expressing hyperactive MYC transcription factors that cannot bind JAZ repressors. These data provide evidence that the mechanisms underlying JA-mediated growth-defense balance depend on the level of defense, and they further establish an association between growth inhibition at high levels of defense and dysregulation of Trp biosynthesis.

The shape of a defense-growth trade-off governs seasonal trait dynamics in natural phytoplankton

Theory predicts that trade-offs, quantifying costs of functional trait adjustments, crucially affect community trait adaptation to altered environmental conditions, but empirical verification is scarce. We evaluated trait dynamics (antipredator defense, maximum growth rate, and phosphate affinity) of a lake phytoplankton community in a seasonally changing environment, using literature trait data and 21 years of species-resolved high-frequency biomass measurements. The trait data indicated a concave defense-growth trade-off, promoting fast-growing species with intermediate defense. With seasonally increasing grazing pressure, the community shifted toward higher defense levels at the cost of lower growth rates along the trade-off curve, while phosphate affinity explained some deviations from it. We discuss how low fitness differences of species, inferred from model simulations, in concert with stabilizing mechanisms, e.g., arising from further trait dimensions, may lead to the observed phytoplankton diversity. In conclusion, quantifying trade-offs is key for predictions of community trait adaptation and biodiversity under environmental change.

Emotion dysregulation and interpersonal problems: The role of defensiveness

Despite evidence that individual differences in defensiveness (typically measured with social desirability scales) may affect associations among self-report measures, little is known about the impact of defensiveness in the well-established relations between self-report emotion dysregulation and interpersonal problems. In Study 1 (community sample; N=274), we found evidence that defensiveness significantly explained a portion of the shared variance between emotion dysregulation and interpersonal problems in the externalizing domain (i.e., interpersonal ambivalence, and aggression) but not in the internalizing domain. In Study 2, we replicated and extended these findings by showing that defensiveness accounted for a positive indirect effect of emotion dysregulation on aggression in a sample of incarcerated offenders (N=268). These findings are consistent with an increasing amount of research corroborating that defensiveness reflects meaningful variance – rather than a statistical nuisance – in relationships between self-reported ratings of emotion dysregulation, interpersonal problems and aggression. In both samples, reports of lower levels of emotion dysregulation were associated with higher levels of defensiveness. In turn, individuals with higher levels of defensiveness were more likely to report lower levels of interpersonal ambivalence and aggression. Therefore, defensiveness may play an important role in the mechanisms linking emotion dysregulation and associated negative consequences.

What is the Nature of the Self-defining Memories of Repression-prone Individuals?

The present study investigates the ability to predict various self-defining memory dimensions from individual differences in repressiveness, operationalized by high levels of defensiveness and low levels of trait anxiety. Three self-defining memories from 83 participants (aged between 27 and 43 years) recruited from the general population were analyzed with multilevel models. The main results showed that repression-prone individuals, relative to more adjusted individuals, retrieved more specific self-defining memories and were less likely to extract meanings from their personal memories. Moreover, self-threatening, self-defining memories of repression-prone individuals contained fewer negative emotional words than did those of more adjusted individuals. These results are discussed in light of a recent affect-regulation view of emotional autobiographical memories.

Same but different: meta-analytically examining the uniqueness of mortality salience effects

One line of theorizing suggests considering death reminders—i.e., mortality salience (MS) inductions—unique in their effect on worldview defenses (e.g., Pyszczynski et al., 2006). Other theorizing suggests that meaning and certainty threats produce effects similar to MS and thus that these threats be considered theoretically equivalent (e.g., Proulx & Heine, 2006; McGregor, 2006). To help reconcile these discrepant perspectives, we meta-analytically examined MS effects as a function of the control condition utilized (meaning/certainty threats vs. other topics) and the length of delay between threat induction and subsequent defense. Results showed that MS and meaning/certainty threats both increased defensiveness after a short delay. But with a longer delay, MS produced even higher levels of defensiveness while meaning/certainty threats produced lower levels of defensiveness. Thus, the evidence supports a similarity between MS and meaning/certainty threat effects, but also a difference in time course that warrants their study as unique psychological threats. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Defense strategy of old and modern spring wheat varieties during soil drying

Different defense mechanisms of three spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties were studied by withholding watering in well-watered pots to gradually increase water deficit of plants grown in containers. The strategies of plant adaptation were divided into three phases according to the severity of drought: first, a positive defense phase that started from commencement of non-hydraulic root-sourced signals (nHRS) and ended at onset of hydraulic root-sourced signals (HRS)--the plant responded to imminent drought by decreasing stomatal aperture to lessen water loss and no membrane injury occurred. The second defense phase occurred between the onset of HRS and temporary wilting (TW), characterized by enhancement of reactive oxygen species (ROS), marked enzyme activity and increased MDA content. Mild lipid membrane peroxidation came mainly from a dynamic imbalance between free radical production and enzymatic defense reaction, which indicated that injury by ROS had not been completely repaired by increasing enzymatic activity. The third defense phase was from TW to permanent wilting (PW), the synthesis of SOD and CAT during TW could not deal with the collapse of antioxidant enzymes, and SOD and CAT activities began to decrease, which caused the excessive ROS production and thus serious membrane lipid peroxidation. The defense strategies to drought are similar among the varieties, but modern varieties LC8275 and GY602 bred after 1975 had relatively higher defense levels at all three defense phases, which suggest that modern varieties are more resistant than old ones, and artificial selection would lead to a different direction in evolution from natural selection.

Does Defensiveness Account for the Relationship Between Religiosity and Psychosocial Adjustment?

Religiosity has been related to positive psychosocial adjustment across a large number of studies. Some researchers question, however, whether this relationship is an accurate finding, observing that there are many potential confounds that have not been controlled for, such as defensiveness. This study examined whether defensiveness accounted for the relationship between religiosity and psychosocial adjustment. Two samples of religious individuals were assessed on religiosity (Duke University Religion Index), defensiveness (measured using the denial of distress and repressive defensiveness subscales from the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory [WAI]), and psychosocial adjustment (Depression subscale from the WAI, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Sarason Social Support Scale). In both studies it was found that religiosity was related to positive psychosocial adjustment as well as higher levels of defensiveness. Defensiveness, however, did not account for the relationships between religiosity and psychosocial adjustment. These findings add to the research literature by eliminating a potential confound of the relationship between religiosity and psychosocial adjustment.

Perception of benefits and costs during SARS outbreak: An 18-month prospective study.

In this study, the authors examined perceived benefits and costs of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Mixed accounts of benefits and costs, rather than exclusive accounts of only benefits or costs, were proposed to be characterized by nondefensiveness and enduring changes in psychosocial resources. Participants were 70 SARS recoverers, 59 family members of SARS recoverers, and 172 healthy adults residing in Hong Kong--a SARS-affected region. Results show that participants giving an exclusive account of benefits had higher levels of defensiveness than those giving a mixed account and those giving an exclusive account of costs. Only the perceived impact of benefits given in mixed accounts were related to future accruements in personal and social resources over an 18-month period.

Patterns of Parental Investment and Sexual Selection in Teleost Fishes: Do They Support Bateman's Principles?

Bateman demonstrated differences in variance for fertility and mating success between the sexes, with males usually having a greater variance than females. Thus in general, male reproductive success increases with number of mates acquired. These results have been referred to as "Bateman's principles" and taken together with other parameters (e.g., relative parental investment) have been proposed to estimate a component of sexual selection. For this review I examine patterns of parental care and sexual selection in teleost fishes (substrate brooding and with internal fertilization). I present data for the pumpkinseed sunfish Lepomis gibbosus, in which I estimated cost of paternal care and compared direct measures of the intensity of selection on possible sexually selected traits to measures of sexual selection based on Bateman's principles.Despite high levels of paternal care in substrate brooding fishes, sexual selection tends to act more strongly on males than on females, which suggests that maternal investment is higher than paternal investment and that parental care does not limit the reproductive rate for males. In pumpkinseed sunfish, selection favors parents with high levels of defense that may exclude predators more effectively and, as suggested by Bateman's measures, alternative reproductive strategies may decrease the opportunity for sexual selection within the parental strategy. In teleost fishes with internal fertilization, patterns of parental investment and intensity of sexual selection seem to support Bateman's principles, but further studies using these systems and these measures of selection will improve the understanding of factors affecting the intensity of sexual selection and its relation to mating systems.

Defensiveness and symptom reporting

This investigation examined whether high levels of defensiveness were associated with lower levels of reporting symptoms of ill health. Participants completed questionnaires measuring defensiveness, trait anxiety (neuroticism), and health. Analyses revealed that overall high defensiveness was significantly associated with lower levels of symptom reporting, and that among individuals high in neuroticism (a trait normally associated with high levels of symptom reporting), those individuals also high in defensiveness reported significantly lower levels of symptoms. The results suggest that defensiveness may act as a buffer against the perception and reporting of the symptoms of illness.

Testing the optimal defense theory and the growth-differentiation balance hypothesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

Two prominent theories proposed to explain patterns of chemical defense expression in plants are the optimal defense theory (ODT) and the growth-differentiation balance hypothesis (GDBH). The ODT predicts that plant parts with high fitness value will be highly defended, and the GDBH predicts that slow growing plant parts will have more resources available for defense and thus will have higher defense levels than faster growing tissues. We examined growth rate, fitness value, and defense protein levels in leaves of a wild and lab ecotype of Arabidopsis thaliana to address whether patterns of defense protein expression in this plant conform to predictions of either the ODT or the GDBH. We divided leaves of A. thaliana into six leaf classes based on three developmental stages: vegetative, bolting, and flowering; with two leaf ages at each stage: young and old. We assessed the fitness value of leaves by determining the impact of the removal of each leaf class on total seed production and germination rates. Although A. thaliana was highly tolerant to defoliation, young leaves were more valuable than old in general, and young leaves on bolting plants were the most valuable leaf class in particular. Young leaves on vegetative plants grew fastest in both ecotypes, while old leaves on bolting and flowering plants grew slowest. Finally, defense levels were assessed in each leaf class by quantifying the constitutive and inducible expression of four defense-related proteins. Expression of guaiacol peroxidase and chitinase activity conformed largely to GDBH predictions. Expression of trypsin inhibitor and polyphenoloxidase activity varied by leaf class and treatment, but conformed to neither GDBH nor ODT predictions.

Social stress, coping strategies and tumor development in male mice: Behavioral, neuroendocrine and immunological implications

The relationships between acute social stress, immunological alterations and the development of pulmonary metastases of B16F10 melanoma were analyzed. In particular, the effects of different behavioral coping strategies on the development of the metastases were studied. Tumor bearing and tumor non-bearing mice were subjected for 24h to a sensory contact social stress model. This included two 5 min sessions of direct social interaction with their resident cagemates (which had been selected for consistent levels of aggression). The subjects' behavior was videotaped and assessed. Corticosterone, IL-2, IL-12 and splenic cell proliferation responses to Con-A were determined 1h and 3 days post-stress. Lung metastatic foci numbers were determined 21 days after inoculation (15 days post-stress). Social stress increased the number of pulmonary metastases and the serum level of corticosterone but decreased the splenic proliferative capacity. No direct relationship could be established between the development of the metastases and the assayed interleukin response. A combination of cluster and discriminant analyses established that there were three types of coping strategies. Subjects engaging in a strategy characterized by an absence of attack, low non-social exploration levels and high levels of defense, subordination and avoidance, developed most pulmonary metastases. Social stress effects on tumor development appear to depend on the subject's coping strategy in such situations (although one cannot rule out the possibility that differences in the development of the disease per se are responsible for the different behavioral patterns observed).

Why being right is not enough: Predicting defensiveness in the face of group criticism

Criticism of a group can be a catalyst for reform and positive change. Despite this, group-directed criticisms can sometimes face high levels of defensiveness, and can do so even if the comments have objective merit. In this article I review research on group-directed criticism and formulate a model designed to predict when and why people will express defensiveness in the face of criticisms of their group. I argue that, when deciding how to respond to group criticism, people weigh up three independent sets of considerations: (1) attributions about the motives and agenda of the critic (“why would they say that?”), (2) questions about whether the critic had obeyed identity-related rules in the timing and delivery of their criticism (“was it appropriate for them to say that?”), and (3) questions about whether it is in the long-term interests of the individual and the group for them to express support for the criticisms (“strategically, what is the best way for me to respond?”). Practical implications of the model for promoting positive and open communication within and between groups are discussed.

Vigilance for threat: effects of anxiety and defensiveness

Eysenck’s (1997) theory that attentional biases for threat vary as an interactive function of trait anxiety and defensiveness was tested using a visual probe task. Two stimulus exposure conditions were used to explore a secondary issue concerning attentional allocation over time. Results indicated that, among high trait anxious participants, only those with low levels of defensiveness showed vigilance for threatening faces presented for 500 ms. They also showed an attentional preference for neutral faces, relative to happy faces, irrespective of exposure condition. This pattern was reversed in high trait anxious participants with high levels of defensiveness, who showed an attentional bias towards happy faces (relative to neutral faces) under both exposure conditions. The findings are discussed in relation to their implications for (a) the significance of measures of defensiveness for the conceptualization of high trait anxious individuals, and (b) the status of anxiety-related biases at different stages of information processing.

Trait anxiety, defensiveness and selective processing of threat: an investigation using two measures of attentional bias

Attentional biases for threat were examined in a non-clinical sample ( N =60), with each participant tested on both the modified Stroop colour-naming and dot probe tasks. Three groups were selected on the basis of trait anxiety and social desirability scale (SDS) scores: “low anxiety” (LA: low trait, low SDS), “repressor” (REP: low trait, high SDS) and “high anxiety” (HA: high trait, low SDS). Results from the colour-naming task suggested that high levels of defensiveness (in combination with low trait anxiety) were associated with greater avoidance of threat. The REP group showed less interference in colour-naming threat than neutral words; whereas the HA group showed increased interference due to threat words. On the dot probe task, there was a general tendency for this non-clinical sample as a whole to show avoidance of social threat relative to neutral words, but there was no bias for physical threat words. Avoidance of social threat was significant only within the REP group. No relationships were found between the measures of cognitive bias from the two tasks, suggesting different underlying mechanisms. Results are discussed in relation to previous findings and theoretical views of the effects of anxiety and defensiveness on the processing of threat.

PHLOROTANNIN ALLOCATION AMONG TISSUES OF NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC KELPS AND ROCKWEEDS

Optimal defense theory (ODT) predicts antiherbivore defensive compounds will be allocated so that the most valuable or most susceptible tissues will be best defended. The growth–differentiation balance hypothesis (GDBH) predicts that defense allocation will be a result of trade‐offs between growth and defense. Thus, these two theories predict opposite allocation patterns with respect to “valuable,” actively growing meristematic and reproductive tissues. ODT predicts that meristems and reproductive tissues should have higher defense levels than nonmeristematic vegetative tissues; the GDBH predicts the defense levels of meristems and reproductive tissues will be lower than vegetative tissues. We examined allocation patterns of phlorotannins in 21 species of kelps (Order Laminariales) and rockweeds (Order Fucales) from nine sites on the west coast of the United States to determine if allocation patterns better matched the predictions of ODT or the GDBH and to look for differences in allocation patterns among sites. Within‐species differences in phlorotannin levels occurred in 10 of the 21 species examined. Meristems of both kelps and rockweeds had higher phlorotannin levels than nonmeristematic vegetative tissues, consistent with ODT. Phlorotannin levels in reproductive tissues of kelps were higher than vegetative tissues, but levels in reproductive tissues of rockweeds were lower than vegetative tissues, indicating that allocation strategies may follow taxonomic lines. Allocation patterns differed among sites in four of the 16 species collected from more than one site. Differences in allocation patterns among sites were usually changes in the ratios of phlorotannins in well‐defended compared to poorly defended tissues, rather than changes in which tissues were well defended or poorly defended. We concluded that environmental variability can have large effects on the concentration of phlorotannins in algae but has limited effects on allocation patterns among tissues.

Different levels of complexity in the play‐fighting by muroid rodents appear to result from different levels of intensity of attack and defense

AbstractPlay‐fighting in deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii, prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster, and montane voles, M. Montanus, was compared to that of laboratory rats, Rattus norvegicus. Play in rats appears more complex for two reasons: 1) more of the playful contacts elicit defensive behaviors, and 2) more of these defenses lead to counterattacks, and hence, role reversals between attackers and defenders. Neither high levels of defense, as shown by montane voles, nor high levels of counterattack, as shown by prairie voles, produce rat‐like play‐fighting. This only occurs when high rates of defense involving turning to face the attacker and counterattack are combined, as in rats. These two components are rarely combined together by deer mice, and so this species rarely exhibits rat‐like play‐fighting. Furthermore, playful counterattack appears to arise from playful attack, and not from an escalation of defense. These data suggest that the more complex forms of social play, such as play‐fighting, have evolved, in part, via the escalation of defense in response to playful attack.

An application of psychophysiology in sports psychology: heart rate responses to relevant and irrelevant stimuli as a function of anxiety and defensiveness in elite gymnasts

One problem in the optimization of athletic performance is that consistency in practice situations is not always carried over to competitive situations. There is an increase in irrelevant stimuli in competition which cannot always be gated out satisfactorily by the anxious athlete. We investigated the physiological responses to relevant and irrelevant stimuli of 48 elite female gymnasts differing in levels of anxiety and defensiveness. Cardiac responses were recorded to tone presentations and analyzed as a function of instructions, anxiety manipulation and group. The results suggest that phasic responses of high-anxious gymnasts were larger than those of low-anxious gymnasts. High-anxious gymnasts experience more difficulty in completely gating out the occurence of irrelevant stimuli than do low-anxious gymnasts. Finally, under anxiety-producing conditions, high levels of defensiveness and anxiety in combination appear to have a debilitating effect on the gymnast's ability to discontinue processing of irrelevant stimuli, while truly low-anxious subjects appear distracted from processing relevant stimuli. Further investigation of the interactions between levels of trait anxiety and anxiety-producing situations in a sport-specific domain appear warranted. The role of defensiveness in these interactions should also be investigated.

The psychiatric correlates of coronary pathology: validity of the GHQ-60 as a screening instrument.

The 60-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) were administered to a consecutive series of 194 patients with established or presumptive coronary heart disease (CHD) attending an out-patient cardiology unit. The GHQ proved to be a valid instrument for the routine screening of this population. The presence of organic anginal pain was associated with high scores on the GHQ, but with a lower specificity and a higher percentage of false positives. This was not found in patients with atypical or non-cardiac chest pain. These findings suggest a need for an upward revision of the cut-off score on the GHQ in patients with organic anginal pain. False negatives were found predominantly among patients with personality disorders, and in those characterized by the longstanding nature of their symptomatology and by higher levels of defensiveness.