Coping with dental treatment correlates of dispositional and domain specific monitoring and blunting

Abstract

Relations between coping style and several variables on an intermediary level were studied in a group of dentally anxious patients (N = 68) awaiting dental treatment. Monitoring was found to be positively related to the need of information: General dispositional monitoring was the best predictor of the need of information in case of more distant threat, whereas domain specific monitoring was the best predictor in case of imminent threat. Furthermore. dental trait anxiety was strongly related to early anticipatory tension, degree of anticipatory tension at several moments in time, and tension during treatment as perceived by the dentist, thereby overshadowing the weaker effects of coping style. Domain specific blunting was negatively related to desires for informational adaptations in the waiting room, and to question proneness as perceived by the dentist during treatment. It is concluded that, in order to study further effects of coping style, a sample homogeneous with respect to domain specific anxiety is needed.     

Monitoring and blunting: validation of a questionnaire to assess styles of information seeking under threat

Subjects were divided into information seekers (high monitors)/information avoiders (low monitors) and distractors (high blunters)/nondistractors (low blunters) on the basis of their scores on a self-report scale to measure coping styles, the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS). In Experiment 1, subjects were faced with a physically aversive event (the prospect of electric shock). High monitors and low blunters chose to seek out information about its nature and onset whereas low monitors and high blunters chose to distract themselves. This effect was strongest with the blunting dimension. High monitoring and low blunting were also accompanied by sustained high anxiety and arousal. In contrast, low monitors and high blunters were able to relax themselves over time. In Experiment 2, subjects worked on a series of tests that presumably predicted success in college. They could attend as often as they wished to a light that signaled how well they were performing. Results showed that coping-style scores accurately predicted informational strategy, particularly with the monitoring dimension: High monitors tended to look at the light whereas low monitors tended to ignore it. Thus the MBSS measure of coping styles appears to be a valid instrument for predicting behavioral strategies in response to both physical and psychological stressors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Coping with an ego-threat: Monitoring and blunting during an intelligence test

This study investigated the predictive validity of the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS; Miller, 1987). Subjects had to work on an intelligence test. During this test, they could observe lights that informed them on how they were performing. There were two conditions: a low-stress condition (n = 37) in which the lights always indicated that the subject was performing well, and a high-stress condition (n.= 33) in which the lights signalled a deterioration of performance. In general, little support was found for the predictive validity of the MBSS.     

Electrophysiological correlates of dispositional mindfulness: A quantitative and complexity EEG study

While growing evidence supports that dispositional mindfulness relates to psychological health and cognitive enhancement, to date there have been only a few attempts to characterize its neural underpinnings. In the present study, we aimed at exploring the electrophysiological (EEG) signature of dispositional mindfulness using quantitative and complexity measures of EEG during resting state and while performing a learning task. Hundred twenty participants were assessed with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and underwent 5 min eyes-closed resting state and 5 min at task EEG recording. We hypothesized that high mindfulness individuals would show patterns of brain activity related to (a) lower involvement of the default mode network (DMN) at rest (reduced frontal gamma power) and (b) a state of ‘task readiness’ reflected in a more similar pattern from rest to task (reduced overall q-EEG power at rest but not at task), as compared to their low mindfulness counterparts. Dispositional mindfulness was significantly linked to reduced frontal gamma power at rest and lower overall power during rest but not at task. In addition, we found a trend towards higher entropy during task performance in mindful individuals, which has recently been reported during mindfulness meditation. Altogether, our results add to those from expert meditators to show that high (dispositional) mindfulness seems to have a specific electrophysiological pattern characteristic of less involvement of the DMN and mind-wandering processes.     

The effect on coping of monitoring, blunting, and the ability to achieve cognitive structure.

The effects of monitoring and blunting on individuals' choices of coping strategies and their effectiveness were examined. In addition, the authors explored the effect of the ability to achieve cognitive structure (AACS), defined as either or both of the following: (a) the ability to avoid information that either cannot be categorized or clashes with the individual's existing knowledge; (b) the ability to organize knowledge to fit an already existing cognitive structure. The results showed that in addition to the main effects of monitoring on problem-focused coping and social support seeking behaviors and of blunting on the use of wishful thinking, AACS was found to moderate blunting's influence on problem-focused coping as well as the effectiveness of distancing and avoidance coping. Finally, the results showed that the combination of high monitoring and high blunting sometimes contributes to coping effectiveness.     

Coping with the threat of terrorism: a review

Terrorism creates a ripple of fear and uncertainty. Although most individuals are resilient and recover over time, a minority remains functionally and psychologically impaired. In this paper, we examine research on coping strategies employed in the aftermath of terrorist events, theories and empirical findings related to appraisal processes that influence individuals' primary attributions of risk, and normative processes that shape secondary appraisals, which predict specific coping behaviors. We also describe individual diatheses and factors promoting resilience that may influence coping and functioning in the face of terrorism. Finally, we offer suggestions for future research.     

Measuring cognitive and dispositional characteristics of creativity in elementary students

This article describes the theoretical underpinning and development of a measurement instrument that provides teachers with a tool to observe the personal creativity characteristics of individual students. The instrument was developed by compiling a list of characteristics derived from the literature to be indicative of the personal characteristics of creative people. The list was then reduced by grouping like characteristics to 9 cognitive and dispositional traits that were considered appropriate for elementary students. The 9‐item instrument was then administered in 24 classrooms to 520 Year 6 and Year 7 students. Factor analysis using maximum likelihood extraction with an oblimin rotation revealed a single factor with an eigenvalue greater than 1 and accounting for 63% of the variance. All 9 items on this factor loaded at .72 or greater. The results indicated that the Creativity Checklist has very high internal consistency and is a reliable measurement instrument (a = .93).     

An experimental investigation of daytime monitoring for sleep-related threat in primary insomnia

An experimental manipulation was conducted to test the hypothesis that monitoring for sleep-related threat during the day triggers a cycle of cognitive processes that includes increased negative thinking, increased use of safety behaviours, increased perceived impairment in functioning, and increased self-reported sleepiness. Forty-seven individuals with primary insomnia were randomly assigned to a monitoring group (instructed to monitor their body sensations), a no-monitoring group (instructed to distract from their body sensations), or a no-instruction group. The manipulations to monitor or not monitor were administered immediately on waking and participants were asked to continue the manipulation throughout the experimental day. The monitoring group reported more negative thoughts, the use of more safety behaviours, and more sleepiness during the day relative to the no-instruction group. These findings offer support to a recent cognitive model, which identifies daytime monitoring for sleep-related threat as a key factor in the maintenance of the daytime distress and difficulty functioning in chronic insomnia.     

Monitoring,blunting, and the ability to achieve cognitive structure

It has often been suggested that vigilant information-seeking helps reduce uncertainty and coping with stress. The present paper argues that additional information can resolve uncertainty only to the extent that it is adequately structured or categorized. However, people may differ in their ability to achieve cognitive structure (AACS) and therefore in their ability to achieve certainty. This postulate may shed new light on Miller's (1987) findings that high monitors suffer from greater distress than low monitors. It is suggested that when high monitors have high AACS they will suffer from less psychological distress than low monitors. This interaction will not be found when blunting is involved. To examine these hypotheses, both AACS and information-seeking behavior of 77 rheumatoid arthritis patients were assessed. The two hypotheses were confirmed even after discounting the effect of subjective health perception and number of years subjects suffered from the disease.     

Monitoring–blunting coping styles and cognitive symptoms of dental fear

The present study investigates whether monitoring (i.e. vigilant) and blunting (i.e. avoidant) coping styles are associated with cognitive symptoms of dental fear. Results show that monitoring is positively related to the frequency and believability of negative thoughts about dental treatment, and negatively with the ability to control such thoughts. The opposite pattern is found for blunting. That is, blunting correlates negatively with the frequency and believability of negative thoughts, whereas a positive association emerges with cognitive control. These findings are in line with the Monitoring Process Model which proposes that ‘monitors’ (compared to ‘blunters’) generally show greater distress and arousal because of the way in which they cognitively elaborate threat.     

The role of prevention focus under stereotype threat: Initial cognitive mobilization is followed by depletion

Previous research has demonstrated that stereotype threat induces a prevention focus and impairs central executive functions. The present research examines how these 2 consequences of stereotype threat are related. The authors argue that the prevention focus is responsible for the effects of stereotype threat on executive functions and cognitive performance. However, because the prevention focus is adapted to deal with threatening situations, the authors propose that it also leads to some beneficial responses to stereotype threat. Specifically, because stereotype threat signals a high risk of failure, a prevention focus initiates immediate recruitment of cognitive control resources. The authors further argue that this response initially facilitates cognitive performance but that the additional cognitive demands associated with working under threat lead to cognitive depletion over time. Study 1 demonstrates that stereotype threat (vs. control) facilitates immediate cognitive control capacity during a stereotype-relevant task. Study 2 experimentally demonstrates the process by showing that stereotype threat (vs. control) facilitates cognitive control as a default, as well as when a prevention focus has been experimentally induced, but not when a promotion focus has been induced. Study 3 shows that stereotype threat facilitates initial math performance under a prevention focus, whereas no effect is found under a promotion focus. Consistent with previous research, however, stereotype threat impaired math performance over time under a prevention focus, but not under a promotion focus.     

Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy

Four experiments tested the hypothesis that people who are concerned with impression management cope with stereotype threat through denial. Consistent with this hypothesis, temporary employees threatened by a stereotype of incompetence (Study 1) and hostel-dwelling older adults (Study 2) were more likely to deny incompetence if they were high in impression management. African Americans (Study 3) showed a similar pattern of denying cognitive incompetence, which emerged primarily when they were interviewed by a White experimenter and had attended a predominantly Black high school. In Study 4, White students who expected to take an IQ test and were threatened by a stereotype of being less intelligent than Asians were more likely to deny that intelligence is important if they were high in impression management.     

Coping with the threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome: Role of threat appraisals and coping responses in health behaviors

The present study examines the psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) by exploring the coping strategies and health behaviors enacted in response to the SARS epidemic. Hierarchical linear regression indicated that the use of wishful thinking in response to the threat of SARS was related to both avoiding public places and avoiding people perceived to be possible carriers of the SARS virus, but was not associated with the use of more adaptive health behaviors, such as using disinfectants and hand washing. Conversely, those who reported engaging in empathic responding in response to the threat of SARS were both less likely to report avoiding people perceived as being at a high risk for SARS and more likely to report engaging in effective health behaviors. Support seeking was not a significant predictor of the health behaviors examined in the present study. Results are discussed in terms of coping with health threats and health promotion.     

Functional and dysfunctional impulsivity: personality and cognitive correlates

The 3 studies reported here were designed to clarify the nature of the personality trait of impulsivity. Two types of impulsivity were distinguished. Dysfunctional impulsivity is the tendency to act with less forethought than most people of equal ability when this tendency is a source of difficulty; most previous work on impulsivity appears to have focused on this trait. Functional impulsivity, in contrast, is the tendency to act with relatively little forethought when such a style is optimal. The present work indicates that these two tendencies are not highly correlated and that they bear different relations both to other personality traits and to the manner in which certain basic cognitive processes are executed.     

The hardy personality: cognitive and physiological responses to evaluative threat

Hardy persons are hypothesized to be resistant to stress-induced illness, because of their adaptive cognitive style and a subsequently reduced level of physiological arousal. We assessed the cognitive and physiological responses of high and low hardy male undergraduates to a challenging task under high and low evaluative threat. As predicted, hardy subjects endorsed more positive self-statements than did low hardy subjects in the high threat condition. High hardy subjects also reported fewer negative self-statements overall, but this was attributable to the overlap of measures of hardiness and neuroticism. Hardy subjects displayed marginally lower arousal while waiting for the task to begin, but this finding did not approach significance when neuroticism was controlled. Hardy subjects also had higher levels of systolic blood pressure, perhaps because of their active coping efforts. Results support the hypothesized hardy cognitive style but raise questions about the type and timing of organismic strain linking hardiness and health.