Key result
Greater denial of emotional condition is linked to increased somatic complaints at 6 months in men.
Why the study?
The relationship between denial of emotional condition and subsequent physical complaints in healthy men was not well established.
Does denial of emotional condition predict physical complaints in healthy men?
Observational (n=380)
Does denial of emotional condition predict physical complaints in healthy men?
Denial of one's emotional condition may lead to an increase in reported somatic complaints over time.
Supports reliable measurement of weakness and related traits in men; leaves open prognostic value in cardiovascular cohorts.
A questionnaire for assessing feelings of 'weakness' (the feeling of resentment, dependency, anxiety and vital exhaustion) as well as aggression and activity was presented to two groups of healthy men (n = 202 and 178, respectively). One group underwent self-evaluation by means of questionnaires and an interview. In the other group self-evaluation and evaluation by the partner were measured using questionnaires during two assessments with an interval of 6 months. The construct validity of the scales corresponded to that of an earlier study on acute myocardial infarct (AMI) patients. The reliability (internal consistency) of the scales was less satisfactory compared to the study on AMI patients. The congruent validity of the scales measuring experience of weakness appeared to be good. The method of score comparison for assessing denial of weakness and overcompensation (by means of aggression and activity) turned out to be reasonably valid, at least for the scales measuring weakness. Analysis of the predictive value of the derived scores for denial and overcompensation led to the finding that the men who reported more physical complaints 6 months after completion of the defence list had a higher mean denial score than the men who reported fewer somatic complaints after 6 months. This confirms the hypothesis that denial of one's own emotional condition in the long run leads to an increase in (reporting) somatic complaints.
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Trijsburg et al. (2010) conducted an observational in Healthy (n=380). Denial of weakness and overcompensation vs. Lower denial of weakness was evaluated on Physical/somatic complaints at 6 months. Higher denial of one's emotional condition was associated with an increase in reported somatic complaints at 6 months among healthy men.
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