Repressive Coping Research Articles

The relationship between repressive and defensive coping styles and monocyte, eosinophile, and serum glucose levels: support for the opioid peptide hypothesis of repression.

The opioid peptide hypothesis of repression (1) predicts that repressive coping is associated with increased functional endorphin levels in the brain, which can result in decreased immunocompetence and hyperglycemia. In a random sample of 312 patients seen at a Yale Medical School outpatient clinic, significant main effects of coping style were found for monocyte and eosinophile counts, serum glucose levels, and self-reports of medication allergies. Specifically, repressive and defensive high-anxious patients demonstrated significantly decreased monocyte counts. In addition, repressive coping was associated with elevated eosinophile counts, serum glucose levels, and self-reported reactions to medications. This behavioral, immunologic, and endocrine profile is consistent with the opioid peptide hypothesis, which provides an integrative framework for relating the attenuated emotional experience of pain and distress characteristic of repressive coping with reduced resistance to infectious and neoplastic disease.

Why is it that dysphoric patients do not realize their dysphoric mood?

In contrast to the clinical psychopathological approach to emotion, we used aspects of the cognitive emotion theories formulated by Lazarus [1966] and Folkman and Lazarus [1985]. According to these theories, emotion is a product of cognitive appraisal and coping a mechanism regulating emotion. We put into operation four coping types in a two-dimensional way (using the amount of anxiety and social desirability and the repressor-sensitizer concept of Byrne [1961] in the extended version of Krohne [1974]) in order to differentiate 30 patients labeled as 'dysphoric' (n = 15) or 'depressed' (n = 15) from a clinical point of view. It was possible to distinguish subpopulations of dysphoric patients as well as depressed patients (discriminant analysis, analysis of variance), which served as a basis for answering our questions to the effect that a clearly defined group of dysphoric patients - all diagnosed as bipolar manic depressives - predominantly employs rigid repressive coping strategies, i.e. defensively denying anxiety. Thus, rigid defensive reactions (i.e. perceptual defense) prevent a change in the direction of distressing emotions but leave the person in a state of high arousal. This psychological theory of coping disposition agrees very well with the clinical view of dysphoric state.

Correlates of Psychosocial Adjustment among Young Adults with Cystic Fibrosis

Young adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) (n = 73) were found to have age-adequate psychological functioning. Psychological adjustment, as measured by the Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI) and the Tennessee Self-Concept Inventory (TSCI), correlated with coping style as measured by the Repression-Sensitization (R-S) scale. A repressive or avoidant coping style was associated with higher self-esteem, lower alienation and discomfort, and greater social activity, but not with employment status or school attendance. Severely ill patients were less likely to be employed or in school, and showed higher levels of psychological discomfort. Physicians' ratings of coping effectiveness were positively related to a repressive illness-related coping style. Prospective assessment of psychological functioning would yield useful information concerning the coping strategies used by young adults with CF to ameliorate the psychological distress associated with physical deterioration.

Self-deception predicts self-report and endurance of pain.

This study sought to test predictions made from disregulation and systems theories regarding self-deception and pain responsivity. Sixty-four subjects completed the L-scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and, based on their scores, were categorized as either High, Medium, or Low Deceptors. Both sensory threshold and three levels of affective pain judgments were determined using electrocutaneous nociceptive stimulation applied to the forearm. Results indicated that there were no differences among groups in their sensation thresholds. However, large differences in affective pain judgments emerged between High and Low Deceptors. High Deceptors differed significantly from Low Deceptors at the Tolerance (9.4 vs. 5.2 mA, p less than 0.001), Pain threshold (7.9 vs. 3.8 mA, p less than 0.001), and Discomfort (4.4 vs. 2.2 mA, p less than 0.01) judgment levels. These findings are consistent with a systems model of pain perception and are discussed in terms of the role of pain in mediating the relationship between cognitive coping patterns and recovery from illness and surgery. A possible opiate-peptide hypothesis of repressive coping & disregulation of pain is proposed.

Biopsychosocial studies on cutaneous malignant melanoma: Psychosocial factors associated with prognostic indicators, progression, psychophysiology and tumor-host response

A series of seven studies investigating biopsychosocial aspects of cutaneous malignant melanoma were conducted by a multidisplinary group of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. Two studies investigated the relationship of variables derived from a videotaped psychosocial interview and from self-report measures, and two histopathologic indicators: tumor thickness and level of invasion. Associations of psychosocial variables to prognostic indicators were stronger within the younger vs the older subject group. In a multiple regression analysis, patient delay in seeking medical attention emerged as the most significant variable predicting tumor thickness. A study of factors related to patient delay found longer delays in patients who had lesions on the back, less previous knowledge of melanoma, less understanding of its treatment and less minimization of its seriousness. Another study compared the repressive coping reactions—defined as the discrepancy between reported anxiety and that reflected in electrodermal activity—in melanoma patients, cardiovascular disease patients and disease-free controls. The melanoma group was significantly more ‘repressed’ on the combined self-report/physiological measure, as well as on other self-report measures of repressiveness. In order to investigate the relationship of psychosocial factors to more disease-relevant physiological variables, the next study focused on two clinical variables significantly predictive of disease outcome: mitotic rate of the tumor and lymphocytes at tumor site. Emotional expression of sadness and anger, rated from the videotaped interviews, was positively correlated with tumor-specific host-response factors and negatively correlated with mitotic rate. In another study, subjects who had died or had disease progression were matched on the basis of tumor and demographic characteristics with subjects who had no evidence of disease by follow-up. The unfavorable outcome group had higher scores on self-report scales of dysophoric emotion and distress which were administered one to three years previously. An experimental investigation of relationships among behavioral, physiological and tumor outcome variables in the Syrian hamster found that general activity was correlated positively with greater tumor growth following induction. These results were compared to those from the preceeding two human studies, and discussed in terms of a stress-arousal-coping model.

Emotional control and autonomic arousal in breast cancer patients

Thirty breast cancer patients and 27 “healthy” controls were compared for differences in personality, reported emotional state and autonomic responses occurring under conditions of acute experimental stress. The data indicated that breast cancer patients were more likely than a control group to report a tendency to control emotional reactions, particularly anger, and to respond to stress using a repressive coping style. Emotional state reported at different points throughout the procedure suggested that the breast cancer group experienced more anxiety and disturbance but were more inclined to inhibit their reaction. There were no differences between the groups on autonomic measures but within the breast cancer group increased electrodermal activity was significantly associated with a tendency to respond to stress using a repressive coping style. The results are discussed in relation to psychobiological models of cancer.

Repressive coping reactions in patients with malignant melanoma as compared to cardiovascular disease patients

Previous research has indicated that repressive styles of coping with stressful emotions may be associated with higher cancer incidence and poorer prognosis. Other studies have suggested that coronary-prone and cancer-prone individuals may be at opposite poles on the distributions of several coping and personality variables. In order to investigate whether these differences could be reflected in a measure that integrated psychological and physiological processes, the present study compared the repressive coping reactions of malignant melanoma patients to matched cardiovascular disease patients and disease-free controls ( N of 20 in each group). Repressive coping reactions were operationally defined as the discrepancy between reported anxiety and that shown physiologically (electrodermal activity) in response to anxiety-provoking statements in an experimental procedure. The concurrent validity of this procedure was established through correlations with other indices of repressive tendencies which were administered to all subjects. Analysis of variance showed that the melanoma group was significantly more ‘repressed’ on these measures, while the cardiovascular disease patients were the least repressed or most sensitized. These differences in defensive posture were independent of disease severity, which suggested that they were not merely artifacts of differences in disease-related anxiety.

Low-anxious, high-anxious, and repressive coping styles: Psychometric patterns and behavioral and physiological responses to stress.

Low-anxious, high-anxious, and repressive coping styles: Psychometric patterns and behavioral and physiological responses to stress.

Low-anxious, high-anxious, and repressive coping styles: Psychometric patterns and behavioral and physiological responses to stress.

Low-anxious, high-anxious, and repressive coping styles: Psychometric patterns and behavioral and physiological responses to stress.