Repressive Coping Style and the Significance of Verbal-Autonomic Response Dissociations

The effects of academic stress on health behaviors in young adults

Abstract The present study examined changes in health behaviors as a function of academic stress. One-hundred and thirty-three college undergraduate students completed measures of stress, affect, and health-behaviors during times of low and high academic demands. During the high-stress period, negative affect increased and positive affect decreased significantly, while health behaviors deteriorated. The strongest decrements were observed for exercise. Generally, women scored higher on “routine health behaviors” (i.e., self-care, vehicle safety, drug avoidance), but not on behaviors requiring effort (i.e., exercise, healthy nutrition). Distinct patterns of changes in health behaviors and aff…

Rigid and flexible modes of coping: Related to coping style?

Abstract This study examined dispositional and situative antecedents of vigilant and avoidant coping behavior. Seventy-two subjects were classified in coping style on the basis of their responses to the vigilance and cognitive avoidance scales of the Mainz Coping Inventory (MCI, Krohne, 1989), and alternatively, on their trait anxiety and defensiveness scores (cf. Weinberger, Schwartz, & Davidson, 1979). In a subsequent laboratory task, subjects were exposed to various conditions of predictability of an aversive event. In anticipation of an aversive loud tone, coping behavior was operationally defined as choosing to listen either to a warning channel (i.e., vigilance) or instead to music (i…

Relationships between time of day, day of the week, and positive mood: Exploring the role of the mood measure

This study examined the relationship between time of day, day of the week, and two measures of positive affect (PA). According to previous research and the circumplex model of affect, one scale was designed to assess the activation component of PA, and the other one measured the pleasantness aspect. Subjects rated their mood three times a day for 7 consecutive days. Consistent with our hypotheses, PA-Pleasantness showed a peak on the weekend, whereas PA-Activation remained stable throughout the week. Regarding time of day, maximum PA-Activation was reached in the afternoon. In contrast, the Pleasantness component of PA increased from morning to evening. Implications of these results as well…

Trait anxiety and parental child-rearing behavior: Support as a moderator variable?

Abstract Based on central assumptions of the social support literature and on formulations concerning the construction of competence and consequence expectancies, a model for the interaction of maternal and paternal child-rearing behavior in the development of children's trait anxiety is presented. Hypotheses concerning this model are tested empirically; 160 boys and 169 girls (aged 12–14 years) responded to the “Erziehungsstil-Inventar” (“Child-Rearing Inventory”), which serves as a measure of child-rearing styles as perceived by the child, as well as to a German adaptation of the “State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children”. General relations between the variables were analyzed by means o…

Emotional correlates of body weight: The moderating effects of gender and family income

Abstract This study explored emotional correlates of relative body weight in a sample of 187 male and 269 female college students. The contribution of relative body weight, gender, family income and their interactions to variables related to anxiety and anger were evaluated by multiple regression procedures. Relative body weight was positively related to trait anxiety, especially among those with lower family incomes. Increased body weight was also related to trait anger and an anger-out expression style, but only among men. These results suggest that gender and family income moderate the contribution of relative body weight to anxiety and anger, both central aspects of a 'disease-prone per…

Associations between type of treatment and illness-specific locus of control in type 1 diabetes patients

Abstract This study examined differences in diabetes-specific locus of control beliefs of 82 insulin-treated Type I diabetes patients undergoing either conventional therapy (CT), intensified conventional therapy (ICT) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Compared to CT with its adherence to a strict regimen, ICT and CSII allow a much greater flexibility in timing of meals and daily activities. On the other hand, such flexibility requires a much more active role of the patient. The hypotheses of higher internality and lower powerful others locus of control beliefs in ICT and CSII patients than in CT patients could be supported for powerful others locus of control only. A one-y…

Avoidant coping style and verbal-cardiovascular response dissociation

Abstract This study explored the relationship between an avoidant coping style and three responses during three experimental periods (i.e., speech preparation, speech delivery, and recovery). One response was cardiovascular reactivity, the two other responses were subjective in nature: self-reports of anxiety and self-estimations of blood pressure. Subjects were 20 male and 20 female students who scored either in the upper third (i.e., high-avoiders) or lower third (i.e., low-avoiders) on cognitive avoidance (Krohne, 1989). When compared to subjects scoring low on avoidance, those high on avoidance showed greater systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity and evidenced verbal-autonomic respon…