The development of a short form of the manifest anxiety scale

Anxiety and chronic couple relationship stress moderate adrenocortical response to couple interaction in expectant parents

The study examines whether anxiety or chronic relationship stress alter the way that couple conflict affects cortisol levels for women and men during the transition to parenthood. Saliva samples, assayed for cortisol, were collected before and after couple interaction from 128 heterosexual couples expecting their first child. Confirming prior research, expectant mothers had higher cortisol levels than their spouses, and gestational age was linked to women's cortisol level. Negativity during couple interaction was associated with greater cortisol reactivity for men, but not women. Tests of moderation indicated little relation between negativity and cortisol recovery for individuals with a low level of anxiety or little history of chronic arguing with the partner. However, among individuals with elevated levels of either of these two factors, negativity was linked to less cortisol recovery for men, but more cortisol recovery for women. Consistent results were also found for the relation between low warmth in the couple interaction and both reactivity and recovery for men and women high in anxiety. Future research should examine whether pregnancy is responsible for these different gender patterns, or whether the inhibition of negativity is stressful for women with high levels of risk.

Anger expression and natural killer cell activity in family caregivers participating in a physical activity trial

Associations between psychological functioning and natural killer cell activity (NKA) were examined in 23 older (62.2 ± 7.5 years) family caregivers randomized to a moderate intensity four-month exercise program or to a wait-list control condition. At baseline, although NKA was related to anger-control (r = -.42; trend p < .06) and anger-out (r = .50; p < .03), it was not related to depression, anxiety, perceived stress, or caregiver burden. After controlling for baseline NKA, changes in anger-control explained 14 percent of the variance in NKA four months later. Decreases in anger-control predicted increases in NKA. Group assignment (exercise vs control) was unrelated to changes in NKA over the four-month period; however, the study was not powered to detect this effect. These results are consistent with reported relationships of anger expression with other physiological measures, and extend the importance of anger expression to immune functioning in older family caregivers.

Relating engagement to outcomes in prevention: the case of a parenting program for couples

Analyses of program engagement can provide critical insight into how program involvement leads to outcomes. This study examines the relation between participant engagement and program outcomes in Family Foundations (FF), a universal preventive intervention designed to help couples manage the transition to parenthood by improving coparenting relationship quality. Previous intent-to-treat outcome analyses from a randomized trial indicate FF improves parental adjustment, interparental relationships, and parenting. Analyses for the current study use the same sample, and yield statistically reliable relations between participant engagement and interparental relationships but not parental adjustment or parenting. Discussion considers implications for FF and the difficulties researchers face when examining the relation between engagement and outcomes in preventive interventions.

Cardiac vagal control as a prospective predictor of anxiety in women diagnosed with breast cancer

Low cardiac vagal control (CVC) has been associated with state and trait anxiety and anxiety spectrum disorders. Studies indicate that diagnosis and treatments for breast cancer may be associated with anxiety. The current study examined whether CVC prospectively predicted a trajectory of change in anxiety following breast cancer diagnosis. Forty-three women diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer completed the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale, and a 5-min resting electrocardiographic (ECG) segment was recorded. Self-report measures were completed approximately every 3 months for a year. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) significantly predicted the trajectory of change in anxiety over the follow-up period: participants with higher baseline RSA evidenced decreasing anxiety, whereas those with lower baseline RSA had increasing anxiety. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that CVC facilitates the modulation of anxiety in women coping with significant stressors of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Predicting engagement in a transition to parenthood program for couples

Fostering participant engagement is a challenging but essential component of effective prevention programs. To better understand which factors influence engagement, this study examines several predictors of couple engagement in Family Foundations (FF), a preventive intervention for first-time parents shown to enhance parent mental health, couple relations, parenting quality, and child adjustment through age 3 years. FF consists of a series of classes delivered through childbirth education departments at local hospitals. Baseline data on socio-demographics, parent mental health, and couple relationship quality were examined as predictors of participants' level of engagement in FF (n = 89 couples, 178 individuals). Sociodemographic variables such as parent gender, socioeconomic status, and age predicted program engagement to a limited extent. However, findings indicated that marital status was the best predictor of engagement. Discussion focuses on how findings can inform the development of practices that promote engagement, such as the use of targeted outreach efforts for individuals most at risk of disengagement.

Trauma severity and defensive emotion-regulation reactions as predictors of forgetting childhood trauma

Using a retrospective survey, we studied a sample of 1,679 college women to determine whether reports of prior forgetting of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, and other traumas could be explained by trauma severity and individual differences in the use of defensive emotion-regulation reactions (i.e., repressive coping, dissociation, and fantasy proneness). Among victims of physical abuse (but not sexual abuse or other types of trauma), those who experienced severe abuse and used defensive reactions were sometimes more likely to report temporary forgetting of abuse but other times less likely to report forgetting. We also found unanticipated main effects of trauma severity on temporary forgetting. Our results provide an understanding of victims' experiences of forgetting by demonstrating the importance of considering unique effects of trauma type, different aspects of trauma severity, and victims' defensive reactions to trauma.

Autobiographical integration of trauma memories and repressive coping predict post-traumatic stress symptoms in undergraduate students

What differentiates those who are able to adapt well to adverse life events (i.e., persons who are resilient) from those who are not (e.g., persons who develop post-traumatic stress symptoms)? Previous work suggests that enhanced autobiographical integration of trauma memories is associated with more severe post-traumatic stress symptoms. Extending this line of work, the present study looked at whether the integration of trauma memories, repressive coping and cognitive reactivity are related to post-traumatic stress symptomatology following negative life events among otherwise healthy young adults (N = 213). Results show that while enhanced integration of trauma memories and high levels of dissociation are related to elevated levels of post-traumatic stress, people who generally engage in repressive coping report fewer post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Repressive coping and alexithymia in idiopathic environmental intolerance

OBJECTIVE

To examine if the non-expression of negative emotions (i.e., repressive coping) and differences in the ability to process and regulate emotions (i.e., alexithymia) is associated with idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI).

METHODS

The study included participants who had previously participated in a general population-based study and reported symptoms of environmental intolerance (n = 787) and patients with IEI (n = 237). The participants completed questionnaires assessing IEI, namely, a measure of repressive coping combining scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and a negative affectivity scale (NAS). Multiple, hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted using IEI variables as the dependent variables.

RESULTS

The TMAS and MCSDS scores were independently associated with the IEI variables, but there was no evidence of a role of the repressive coping construct. While the total alexithymia score was unrelated to IEI, the TAS-20 subscale of difficulties identifying feelings (DIF) was independently associated with symptoms attributed to IEI. Negative affectivity was a strong independent predictor of the IEI variables and a mediator of the association between DIF and IEI.

CONCLUSION

Our results provide no evidence for a role of repressive coping in IEI, and our hypothesis of an association with alexithymia was only partly supported. In contrast, strong associations between IEI and negative emotional reactions, defensiveness and difficulties identifying feelings were found, suggesting a need for exploring the influence of these emotional reactions in IEI.

The importance of the repressive coping style: findings from 30 years of research

During the last three decades there has been substantial research exploring the repressive coping style as defined by Weinberger, Schwartz, and Davidson. As "repressors," who score low on trait anxiety and high on defensiveness, account for up to 50% of certain populations, they are an essential group for psychologists to study. However, there are methodological issues in identifying repressors as well as considerable evidence that repressors avoid negative self-relevant information. Possible methods of addressing these difficulties are discussed in this review. Importantly, there is a body of evidence linking repressive coping and poor physical health, including heart disease and cancer. However, some preliminary findings suggest that repressors compared to non-repressors may be better at health behaviors that they perceive as under their personal control. This needs more extensive investigation as such behaviors are only one aspect of health and other factors may contribute to repressors' poor physical health. Possible future directions of research are discussed including: the need for systematic empirical research of a new theory of repressive coping--the Vigilance-Avoidance Theory--more longitudinal health studies, and an in-depth exploration of the physiological mechanisms which may underlie repressive coping.

Association between symptoms of depression and anxiety with heart rate variability in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated whether depression and anxiety symptoms are associated with measures of autonomic nervous system dysfunction in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators who are at high risk of cardiac rhythm disturbances. Depression and anxiety are associated with autonomic nervous system dysfunction, which may promote the risk of malignant cardiac arrhythmias.

METHODS

Patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) underwent ambulatory electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring (n = 44, mean age = 62.1 +/- 9.3 years). Depression was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory and anxiety was evaluated using the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. Heart rate variability was assessed using time (RMSSD, pNN50, and SDNN) and frequency domain measures derived from 24-hour R-R intervals. Multivariate models were adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, and smoking status.

RESULTS

Defibrillator patients with elevated depression symptoms (n = 12) had significantly lower RMSSD (15.25 +/- 1.66 ms versus 24.97 +/- 2.44 ms, p = .002) and pNN50 (1.83 +/- 0.77 versus 5.61 +/- 1.04, p = .006) than defibrillator patients with low depression symptoms (n = 32). These associations remained significant after multivariate adjustment for covariates. ICD patients with high anxiety levels (n = 10) displayed lower RMSSD (p = .013), which became marginally significant when adjusting for covariates (p = .069).

CONCLUSIONS

Depression and anxiety in defibrillator patients are associated with autonomic nervous system dysfunction indices of reduced parasympathetic control. Autonomic nervous system dysfunction may partially explain the association between depression and anxiety with life-threatening cardiac outcomes in vulnerable patients.

Repressive coping, emotional adjustment, and cognition in people who have lost loved ones to suicide

Research indicates that a repressive coping style is psychologically protective against the stress of trauma, yet it is unclear whether this finding generalizes to suicide bereavement. Thus, we assessed cognitive ability and mental health among individuals who lost a loved one to suicide. The results indicate that repressive coping may be associated with greater emotional health during suicide bereavement. Interestingly, "repressors" also had lower scores on both cognitive tasks compared to "nonrepressors," but it is unclear whether their more recent loss accounts for this difference. These results are based on cross-sectional data, and should be interpreted with caution.

Intact implicit and reduced explicit memory for negative self-related information in repressive coping

Voluntary emotional memory control has recently been shown to involve prefrontal down-regulation of medial temporal lobe activity during memory retrieval. However, little is known about instances of uninstructed, naturally occurring forgetting. In the present study, we examined whether memory suppression extends to involuntary, uninstructed down-regulation of memory in individuals thought to be experts in forgetting negative memories--those with a repressive coping style. We contrasted explicit and implicit memory for negative information in repressor and nonrepressor groups and examined whether self-relevance is a moderating variable. To delineate the specificity of repressors' selective memory reductions, we contrasted encoding and retrieval of emotional words as a function of self-reference, subjective self-relevance, and explicitness of the memory task in nonrepressors and repressors. Self-descriptiveness judgments, lexical decisions (implicit memory), and free recall (explicit memory) were investigated. Repressors had selectively lowered free recall only for negative, self-relevant information. Their implicit memory for the same information was unaffected. This pattern suggests that regulation of emotional memory in repressive individuals is a case of motivated forgetting, possibly sharing much of the neural underpinnings of voluntary memory suppression.

The failed repressor: EEG asymmetry as a moderator of the relation between defensiveness and depressive symptoms

This study assessed the joint effects of defensiveness and frontal asymmetry in predicting symptoms of depression and anxiety. Depression symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and anxiety symptoms with the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS). Defensiveness was assessed with both the Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSD) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire L scale (EPQL). Participants completed two EEG recording sessions 3 weeks apart. Six baselines, three eyes open and three eyes closed, were recorded in each session. Alpha power (8-13 Hz) was computed and log transformed. R-L asymmetry was computed at eight pairs of homologous sites for aggregated data. Defensiveness (EPQL and MCSD scores) and depression symptoms (BDI) were assessed at the beginning of the first session. L and MCSD correlated positively with anterior R-L asymmetries. For both scales, the highest correlations were observed at F8-F7. L interacted with F8-F7 asymmetry to predict depressive symptoms. Among left frontally active individuals, there was trend toward a negative correlation between L and BDI. Among the right frontally active individuals, the correlation between L and the BDI was positive. MCSD did not moderate the relation between F8-F7 asymmetry and BDI. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that defensiveness protects against symptoms of depression in the context of left frontal activity, and serves as a diathesis for depression in the context of right frontal activity. High-defensive individuals who are right frontally active may represent "failed repressors," i.e. individuals for whom defensiveness does not protect against depression, and may even exacerbate it.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea, vomiting, and fatigue--the role of individual differences related to sensory perception and autonomic reactivity

BACKGROUND

In spite of antiemetics, postchemotherapy side effects continue to be common and may affect compliance to cancer treatment. Among the known factors associated with increased symptom severity are: younger age, treatment toxicity, expected severity, and distress, but little is still known about the role of other factors. The aim of our study was to investigate the role of individual differences related to sensory perception for posttreatment side effects.

METHODS

Hundred and twenty-five women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer completed measures of absorption, autonomic perception, somatosensory amplification, trait anxiety, and expected severity at baseline. Pretreatment distress and posttreatment nausea, vomiting, and fatigue were assessed at the 1st, 4th, 6th and last cycles of chemotherapy.

RESULTS

While univariate analyses showed several factors to be associated with side effects, only absorption and pretreatment distress remained independent predictors of nausea and fatigue when controlling for the remaining factors. Posttreatment vomiting was only predicted by expected severity of vomiting.

CONCLUSION

Chemotherapy-induced side effects are related to increased autonomic nervous system activity, and absorption has been associated with increased autonomic nervous system reactivity to stress. The results suggest that individuals with high absorption may be at greater risk for developing side effects. Improved precision in identifying patients at risk of experiencing more severe side effects after cancer treatment will increase the ability to target treatments aimed at reducing these side effects.

Suppressed anger, evaluative threat, and cardiovascular reactivity: A tripartite profile approach

Despite decades of theory and research implicating suppressed anger in the development of cardiovascular disorders involving cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), to date the theoretical components of low anger expression, guilt feelings over agonistic reactions, and defensive strivings to avoid social disapproval have not been used conjointly to profile suppressed anger for the prediction of CVR. The purpose of this study, then, was to cluster analyze measures of anger expression, hostility guilt, and social defensiveness to create a suppressed anger profile (low anger expression, high hostility guilt, high social defensiveness) and a non-suppressed profile from a sample of college males. Social evaluative threat may be a potent stressor for people who defensively suppress anger expression. Thus, to examine the combined effects of suppressed anger and social evaluative threat, participants, prior to telling a story to a Thematic Apperception Card (TAT), were randomly assigned to either a high-threat (story will be compared to stories created by the mentally ill) or a low-threat condition (story used to study effects of talking on cardiovascular responses). Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored during a rest period and the subsequent TAT card period. As predicted, suppressed anger males in the high-threat condition showed the highest levels of diastolic BP and HR change from the rest period. The suppressed anger group's systolic BP reactivity was independent of threat manipulation. Research implications are discussed.

The effects of age on psychopathology, well-being and repressive coping

The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the increased psychological well-being and positivity effect in old age can be related to a high prevalence of repressive coping in healthy older adults. Both older (mean age 73) and younger (mean age 20) adults completed a range of indices measuring psychopathology and repressive coping. Results showed that older adults scored lower than younger adults on almost all indices of psychopathology, and were more likely to be classed as repressive copers than younger adults (41% versus 11%, respectively). Furthermore, when the repressive copers and borderline repressors were removed from both samples, age effects on several, but not all, measures of psychopathology disappeared, indicating that even older non-repressors showed better mental health than young non-repressors. Possible mechanisms of increased positivity, in terms of repressive coping and reductions in intrusive thoughts and rumination in old age, are discussed.

The Environmental Reward Observation Scale (EROS): development, validity, and reliability

Researchers acknowledge a strong association between the frequency and duration of environmental reward and affective mood states, particularly in relation to the etiology, assessment, and treatment of depression. Given behavioral theories that outline environmental reward as a strong mediator of affect and the unavailability of an efficient, reliable, and valid self-report measure of environmental reward, we developed the Environmental Reward Observation Scale (EROS) and examined its psychometric properties. In Experiment 1, exploratory factor analysis supported a unidimensional 10-item measure with strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability. When administered to a replication sample, confirmatory factor analysis suggested an excellent fit to the 1-factor model and convergent/discriminant validity data supported the construct validity of the EROS. In Experiment 2, further support for the convergent validity of the EROS was obtained via moderate correlations with the Pleasant Events Schedule (PES; MacPhillamy & Lewinsohn, 1976). In Experiment 3, hierarchical regression supported the ecological validity of the EROS toward predicting daily diary reports of time spent in highly rewarding behaviors and activities. Above and beyond variance accounted for by depressive symptoms (BDI), the EROS was associated with significant incremental variance in accounting for time spent in both low and high reward behaviors. The EROS may represent a brief, reliable and valid measure of environmental reward that may improve the psychological assessment of negative mood states such as clinical depression.

Types of food aversions: animal, vegetable, and texture

Despite a growing body of research investigating the origins and effects of food aversions, few research instruments have been developed to measure aversions to specific types or categories of food. Undergraduates (N = 209) responded to a series of food aversion questionnaires. The results suggest that people tend to be averse to 2 types of foods (vegetables and meats or fats) and to the texture and taste of certain foods (e.g., oysters). Aversions were slightly more prevalent among women than among men and were correlated with lower educational levels. The authors provide a means of advancing future research on this problem by reliably identifying 3 categories of food aversions. Future researchers should evaluate additional food categories and expand the focus on food aversions beyond the current concern with learned avoidance of specific food items.

The psychological sequelae of thermal injury on children and adolescents: Part 1

The psychological effects of thermal injury and children and their mothers were investigated in a three-part study; Part 1 is concerned with group comparisons regarding the psychological effects of thermal injury on children; Part 2 with aspects of the thermally injured group and Part 3 with psychological effects on their mothers. A total of 44 thermally injured (aged 11-16 years) injured 3-14 years previously, were matched according to age, sex, burn percentage and site of injury. In-depth interviewing and questionnaire responses on measures of psychological disturbance indicated that thermally injured children were differentiated in terms of psychopathology from matched Fracture Controls and Normal Controls. Such differences embraced many aspects of social and recreational functioning, and group differences emphasised depression, anxiety (particularly situational anxiety) and anti-social disorder as being particularly prominent in the thermally injured group. Therapeutic approaches are briefly discussed.

The psychological sequelae on mothers of thermally injured children and adolescents: future directions: Part 3

Part 3 of this study focused on maternal psychopathology and relationship with their children in three groups, assessed in Parts 1 and 2. Evidence of greater psychopathology in the mothers of burned children was supported by findings of both interview and self-report data, which indicated more symptoms of worry, depression, tension, anxiety, lack of energy, lower self confidence with other people and guilt, compared with mothers of Fracture Clinic and Normal Controls. Marital and social functioning and adverse life events did not differentiate groups, with the exception of a significantly higher divorce rate in the parents of burned children, following thermal injury.

The effects of anxiety upon attention allocation to affective stimuli

Pictures of emotionally aversive, neutral, and pleasant scenes were presented for 500 ms, followed by a probe presented in the same location (valid trials) or an alternate location (invalid trials) as the picture. Response-times to the probes were recorded in low (N=20) and high (N=27) trait anxious participants. Results revealed an overall negative cue validity effect of shorter reaction times (RTs) on invalid than valid trials, suggestive of an inhibition of return effect. Moreover, high trait anxious females showed a reduced negative cue validity effect for aversive pictures in comparison with neutral and pleasant pictures, suggestive of selective interference by the unpleasant material. By contrast, low trait anxious females showed an enhanced negative cue validity effect for aversive pictures relative to neutral and pleasant pictures, suggestive of attentional avoidance of the aversive content. The emotional content of picture cues did not significantly affect RTs in males, regardless of anxiety status. The results suggest that biased attention processes for aversive stimuli may contribute to the greater female propensity for anxiety disorders.

The psychological effects of sex, age at burn, stage of adolescence, intelligence, position and degree of burn in thermally injured adolescents: Part 2

A total of 44 thermally injured children (22 boys and 22 girls), currently aged 11-16 years old, who had been injured 3-14 years previously, stratified by age, sex, degree of burn (1-9%, 10-19%, 20%+) and position of burn (those whose burns included the face and those not burned facially) were selected from a sample pool of 394 previously hospitalized cases. Extent of psychological disturbance experienced by thermally injured adolescents and their mothers indicated that significant effects were evident regarding the sex of the child, age at the time of burn, stage of adolescence, intelligence and by the position and degree of burn.

Predictors of expectancies for post-surgical pain and fatigue in breast cancer surgical patients

Expectancies for post-surgical pain and fatigue have previously been found to predict pain and fatigue among breast cancer surgery patients. However, the study of predictors of these expectancies has been neglected. The present study was designed to investigate predictors of expectancies for post-surgical pain and fatigue among breast cancer surgery patients.Four hundred and eighteen women (M = 48.3 years, SD = 13.66 years) scheduled to undergo excisional breast biopsy or lumpectomy completed questionnaires assessing demographics/medical history, pre-surgical distress, stable personality characteristics, pre-surgical pain and fatigue, and expectancies for post-surgical pain and fatigue.Path analysis revealed: expectancies for post-surgical pain were significantly predicted by trait anxiety, acute pre-surgical distress, and age; and expectancies for post-surgical fatigue were significantly predicted by acute pre-surgical distress, acute pre-surgical fatigue, previous experience with the same surgical procedure, and education (all ps < .05). Examination of an alternative model revealed that the effects of the aforementioned predictors on expectancies were not mediated by acute pre-surgical distress, clarifying the directionality of the distress-expectancy relationship.Expectancies for post-surgical pain and fatigue are influenced by distress, treatment history, stable personality characteristics, extant symptoms, and demographic factors. These variables should be considered in designing clinical interventions to manipulate expectancies for patient benefit.

Anticipatory Nausea: The Role of Individual Differences Related to Sensory Perception and Autonomic Reactivity

BACKGROUND

Anticipatory nausea (AN) during chemotherapy has been difficult to control with conventional antiemetics. AN can lead cancer patients to delay or discontinue chemotherapy, possibly compromising the treatment.

PURPOSE

The aim is to investigate the possible influence on the development of AN of individual differences in absorption, somato-sensory amplification, and autonomic perception-measures theorized to be related to sensory perception and autonomic reactivity.

METHODS

Prior to treatment, 125 women (M age = 48.5 years) undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer rated their expected severity of side effects and completed the Tellegen Absorption Scale, the Somato-Sensory Amplification Scale, and the Autonomic Perception Questionnaire. AN, as well as anticipatory vomiting (AV), distress, and worry/anxiety, were measured prior to the fourth, sixth, and last cycle of chemotherapy. Posttreatment nausea (PN), vomiting, and fatigue were measured after the first, fourth, sixth, and last cycle.

RESULTS

34% of the women reported AN before 1 or more cycles. When controlling for treatment characteristics and other known predictors, AN was significantly associated with high absorption in addition to severity of PN, pretreatment worry/anxiety, and not receiving radiotherapy between chemotherapy sessions. AV was not associated with any of the variables investigated. Our data suggest that the association is strongest in the early phases of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results partly confirm the results of a previous study showing absorption and autonomic perception as predictors of anticipatory side effects in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Individuals high in absorption may be more autonomically reactive to aversive stimuli and, subsequently, more conditionable. Additional radiotherapy could be a competing stimulus, reducing the conditioning of chemotherapy-related nausea. Further studies investigating possible psycho-physiological mechanisms in the development of AN are needed.

Effects of naltrexone on repressive coping and disclosure of emotional material: a test of the opioid-peptide hypothesis of repression and hypertension

OBJECTIVE

The present study was designed to assess the role of endogenous opioids in the relationship of hypertension to repressive coping.

METHODS

Ten hypertensive and 8 normotensive males were given either the opioid antagonist naltrexone or placebo in a randomized, double-blind fashion over the course of four laboratory sessions. Measures of repression and disclosure were completed and blood pressure was assessed during a laboratory stressor protocol.

RESULTS

Opioid antagonism reduced repression and increased disclosure only in the hypertensive group. Also, opioid antagonism increased stress-related systolic blood pressure only in the hypertensive group.

CONCLUSION

The results support the hypothesis that endogenous opioid dysregulation underlies both hypertension and repressive phenomena.

Clinical characteristics of adults reporting repressed, recovered, or continuous memories of childhood sexual abuse

The authors assessed women and men who either reported continuous memories of their childhood sexual abuse (CSA, n = 92), reported recovering memories of CSA (n = 38), reported believing they harbored repressed memories of CSA (n = 42), or reported never having been sexually abused (n = 36). Men and women were indistinguishable on all clinical and psychometric measures. The 3 groups that reported abuse scored similarly on measures of anxiety, depression, dissociation, and absorption. These groups also scored higher than the control group. Inconsistent with betrayal trauma theory, recovered memory participants were not more likely to report abuse by a parent or stepparent than were continuous memory participants. Rates of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder did not differ between the continuous and recovered memory groups.

Repressive coping style and autonomic reactions to two experimental stressors in healthy men and women

Autonomic and affective responses to two different stress tasks were measured in 45 males and 74 females, categorized as repressive, true low-anxious, true high-anxious, and defensive high-anxious. Electrodermal activity (EDA) was used as a measure of sympathetic activity and the high frequency (HF) spectral component of heart rate variability as a measure of parasympathetic activity. Contrary to our predictions, reactivity of repressors did not differ from the reactivity of true low-anxious participants. The results draw attention to previous inconsistent findings within the literature on repressive coping style and autonomic nervous system dysregulation. It is suggested that future research could benefit from the use of more consistent operationalizations of the repressive coping construct and from comparing alternative measures of repressive coping within the same study.

The impact of calcium and dairy product consumption on weight loss

OBJECTIVE

Recent evidence suggests that diets high in calcium and dairy products are associated with lower body weight, particularly lower body fat levels. The purpose of this study was to compare weight and body fat loss on a calorie-restricted, low-dairy (CR) vs. high-dairy (CR+D) diet.

RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Fifty-four subjects (BMI 30 +/- 2.5 kg/m2, 45 +/- 6.6 years, 4 men) were randomly assigned to calorie-restricted (-500 kcal/d) low-dairy calcium (n = 29; approximately 1 serving dairy/d, 500 mg/d calcium) or high-dairy calcium (n = 25; 3 to 4 servings dairy/d, 1200 to 1400 mg/d calcium) diets for 12 months. Main outcome measures included change in weight (kilograms) and body fat (percentage).

RESULTS

There were no significant differences between groups at baseline. At 12 months, weight and body fat loss were not significantly different. Subjects in the CR vs. CR+D conditions lost 9.6 +/- 6.5 vs. 10.8 +/- 5.9 kg (p = 0.56) and 9.0 +/- 3.8 vs. 10.1 +/- 3.6 kg body fat (p = 0.37).

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that a high-dairy calcium diet does not substantially improve weight loss beyond what can be achieved in a behavioral intervention.

Coping with emotions and abuse history in women with chronic pelvic pain

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether past abuse and the tendency to repress or suppress unwanted thoughts and emotions contribute to the experience of pain in patients with chronic pelvic pain (CPP).

METHODS

A group of CPP patients without endometriosis and a group with endometriosis were compared with a pain-free control group. Participants completed measures of pain, emotional repression, suppression of unwanted thoughts and emotions, and past abuse history.

RESULTS

Both CPP groups were more likely to be emotional suppressors when compared with the control group and reported significantly higher levels of thought suppression and abuse. Endometriosis patients were also more likely to be repressors of emotions when compared with controls. Suppression but not repression was related to higher levels of abuse and pain.

CONCLUSION

Suppression of unwanted thoughts and emotions and past abuse distinguishes CPP patients from healthy controls. Assisting patients to express distressing emotions may impact on pain levels.

Long term consequences of suppression of intrusive anxious thoughts and repressive coping

The current experiment employed a thought suppression paradigm to investigate whether repressors (N=40) are more skilled in suppressing positive and anxious autobiographical thoughts than low anxious (N=40), high anxious (N=40), and defensive high anxious (N=40) individuals, both immediately and over a longer time period (i.e., 7 days). Regardless of suppression instructions, repressors reported during their lab visit fewer target thoughts for their most anxious events than participants in the other three groups. However, over a 7 days period, repressors showed the highest number of intrusive thoughts about their anxious autobiographical events. Thus, our results demonstrate that repressive coping might be adaptive in the short run, but counterproductive in the long run.

Unaided smoking cessation and predictors of failure to quit in a community sample: effects of gender

The majority of smokers who eventually quit do so without formal treatment, but few studies have examined a range of predictors of cessation among self-quitters and whether they differ depending on smokers' gender. The present study examined predictors of quitting in a community sample of 93 men and 117 women smokers attempting to quit on their own. Smokers were mailed a baseline questionnaire battery, and instructed to complete other measures the first and second day of their quit attempt. No gender difference in quit rates was observed, but predictors of smoking differed between men and women. Among men, alcohol use, caffeine consumption, and negative affect predicted smoking on quit day. Among women, nicotine dependence, age, ethnicity, weight control smoking, and not eating during urges predicted smoking on quit day. Social support seeking was negatively associated with smoking on the quit day among women, but the opposite relationship was obtained for men. Men's smoking 4 months later was predicted by baseline social pressures to quit and use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). For women, weight control smoking and trait anxiety predicted smoking at the 4-month follow-up.

Are normal narcissists psychologically healthy?: self-esteem matters

Five studies established that normal narcissism is correlated with good psychological health. Specifically, narcissism is (a) inversely related to daily sadness and dispositional depression, (b) inversely related to daily and dispositional loneliness, (c) positively related to daily and dispositional subjective well-being as well as couple well-being, (d) inversely related to daily anxiety, and (e) inversely related to dispositional neuroticism. More important, self-esteem fully accounted for the relation between narcissism and psychological health. Thus, narcissism is beneficial for psychological health only insofar as it is associated with high self-esteem. Explanations of the main and mediational findings in terms of response or social desirability biases (e.g., defensiveness, repression, impression management) were ruled out. Supplementary analysis showed that the links among narcissism, self-esteem, and psychological health were preponderantly linear.