Repressive coping and self-reported physical health status in multiple sclerosis / by Rebecca Iannuzzo.

• The traditional method of assessing physical health status in multiple sclerosis (MS) is with a neurologist-administered physical examination. Neurological exams may be impractical due to the time and expense involved. Alternatively, clinicians frequently use patient self-report instruments to assess physical health status. Previous research suggests that individual difference variables influence the accuracy with which patients report their physical health status. Repressive coping has been identified as a personality variable that plays an important role in self-report accuracy in both healthy and medical populations. At present, no research has examined the role of repressive coping on accuracy of self-reported physical health status in MS patients. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between repressive coping and accuracy of self-reported physical health status. 
• It was hypothesized that MS patients with a repressive coping style would report their physical health status less accurately compared to other MS patients. Specifically, it was hypothesized that repressors would underreport physical health problems compared to clinician ratings. Eighty outpatients with clinically definite MS were included in the study. The present study failed to support this hypothesis. Repressors reported more, rather than fewer, physical health problems compared to other coping style groups. Repressors were also rated as the most physically impaired by clinicians. The greater level of impairment among repressors provides one possible explanation for their greater self-report accuracy, as previous research suggests a positive relationship between self-report accuracy and illness severity. It may be beneficial for future studies to include equivalent clinician-completed and patient-completed measures of health status. It may also be useful to include other measures of objective health status such as level of immune function in health outcome research with MS patients. 

Ämnesord

Psychology, Personality. 

Psychology, Clinical. 

Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy. 

Psychology, Physiological. 

Klassifikation

616.834 (DDC)

Vef (kssb/8 (machine generated))