Applications of the monitoring process model to coping with severe long-term medical threats.
Guided by the monitoring process model (MPM), the authors explored the illness responses of 2 samples: high monitors (who are cognitively vigilant to and amplify threat-related cues) and low monitors (who avoid them and blunt their impact). Both samples-101 women with human papillomavirus-related precancerous cervical dysplasia and 75 HIV-infected gay men-were undergoing long-term medical follow-up and management. Structural equation analysis showed an adequate fit of the MPM to the data within each sample, supporting the model's heuristic value: High monitors experienced greater disease-related intrusive ideation, which triggered greater avoidant ideation to forestall panic, particularly in the more threatened HIV-positive sample. However, efforts to avoid disturbing intrusive thoughts were ineffective, requiring increasingly extreme defensive strategies (i.e., denial and mental and behavioral disengagement).
Miller
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SM
Division of Population Science, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA. sm.miller@fccc.edu
Rodoletz
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M
Mangan
C E
CE
Schroeder
C M
CM
Sedlacek
T V
TV
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000523:psychology*