The paradox of distress expression is that expression of negative feelings is both a sign of distress and a possible means of coping with that distress. This article describes research illustrating the paradox of distress expression. It reviews evidence concerning 3 possible mechanisms by which expression might alleviate distress, focusing on the role of expression in (a) reducing distress about distress, (b) facilitating insight, and (c) affecting interpersonal relationships in a desired way. The authors conclude by highlighting the circumstances under which expression is most likely to be adaptive. Overall, the authors argue that expression of negative feelings is adaptive to the extent that it leads to some kind of resolution involving the source or significance of distress.
Self-report, situation-specific assessments of coping, such as the Ways of Coping Scale (WOC), have been used frequently in recent years. Several potential issues in the development and use of these questionnaires have been identified, including the applicability of coping items to different kinds of stressful events, the definition of the period for which Ss report coping efforts, and the meaning of the "extent" response key that is used for reporting coping items. In this study, 91 college students completed the WOC and were then interviewed about their responses; interview questions were focused on the 3 issues stated above. The hypothesized concerns about the WOC were supported. Many of the coping items were not applicable to certain kinds of stressful events. Also, how the coping report period was defined varied across Ss and the way in which the extent response key was interpreted differed across both Ss and WOC items.
Research indicates that self-reports of coping with stressful occurrences are associated with psychological and health outcomes. However, measures of coping may be biased by retrospective distortion as they assess coping over relatively long periods. In this study, a sample of 79 men completed a coping assessment daily for several weeks about the day's most "bothersome" problem. Repeated daily measurement of coping allowed analysis of within-subject effects of coping efforts. Same-day mood reported by the men (targets) and reports of the men's mood by their spouses (observers) were outcome variables. Within-subject analyses indicated that catharsis and social supports were associated with increased negative affect, whereas use of acceptance was associated with less negative affect. Use of distraction, acceptance, and relaxation were associated with increased positive affect. These findings held for target- and observer-reported mood.
To examine a hypothesized link between daily stressful events and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) antibody, 96 adults from the community completed daily event questionnaires and gave daily saliva samples for up to 12 weeks. They also ingested a capsule of a novel protein to challenge their secretory immune systems. The questionnaire yielded measures of negative and positive experiences, of their content, and of negative and positive affect. On a within-subjects, day-to-day basis, reporting more desirable events was related to more sIgA antibody, and reporting more undesirable events was related to less. Desirable events also had lagged (1 and 2 days), positive effects on sIgA levels. Undesirable work events and desirable leisure and household events were more strongly related to sIgA than events in other categories. Positive affect related directly to sIgA, and negative mood related inversely to same-day sIgA.
ithout valid and reliable assessment tools, there is little hope of achieving the w goal of understanding how psychosocial factors affect health. Only if our instruments are reliable will we be able to detect existing relationships; only if our instruments are valid will be able to interpret our findings meaningfully. These issues are fundamental to any field of research, and, in the long run, attention paid to developing excellent assessment tools is always worth the effort.vices have progressed from a priori, and often unidimensional, specification of adaptive coping traits to multidimensional descriptionsof specific coping efforts. Questionnaires developed by Lazarus (1980, 1985), Pearlin and Schooler (1978), Billings and Moos (1981), Stone and Neale (1984), and Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub (i.e., the problem-oriented version of the COPE; 1989) represent the state of the art of situationspecific, self-report, coping assessment tools. In contrast to earlier measures, these situation-specific instruments allow empirical determination of cross-situational coping consistency and coping efficacy.In the area of coping, assessment has made tremendous advances. Assessment de-203
To investigate the process by which dysphoric persons are rejected by others, authors integrated behavioral confirmation and interpersonal theories of depression. The expectations of nondysphoric perceiver participants (college students) were manipulated, such that half expected to interact with a same-sex dysphoric target and half expected to interact with a same-sex nondysphoric target. The targets' actual mood status was consistent or inconsistent with these expectations. Pre- and postinteraction impressions, as well as postinteraction acceptance of partners, were solicited from perceivers and targets (N = 240). Audiotaped verbal behaviors were coded during the 1st and last 3 min of the interactions. Acceptance of targets and verbal behaviors were an interactive function of perceivers' expectancies and targets' mood status, such that dysphoric targets who were expected to be nondysphoric were the least accepted group and had the most dysfunctional interactions.
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