Coping with body image changes following a disfiguring burn injury.
The influence of emotion-focused coping on distress following disfiguring injury was examined. Two types of emotion-focused coping (i.e., venting emotions vs. mental disengagement) were assessed in 78 patients with burn injury at baseline during acute hospitalization. Body image dissatisfaction (BID) was assessed 1 week and 2 months following discharge. Use at baseline of both venting emotions and mental disengagement, compared with use of only one or neither of these coping methods, was associated at the 2-month postdischarge follow-up with significantly higher BID related to nonfacial aspects of appearance and with a greater negative social impact of disfigurement. D. M. Wegner's (1994) theoretical model of mental control and a proposed motivational analysis are used to interpret these findings.
Fauerbach
James A
JA
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA. jfauerba@jhmi.edu
Heinberg
Leslie J
LJ
Lawrence
John W
JW
Bryant
Amy G
AG
Richter
Linda
L
Spence
Robert J
RJ
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001828:Body Image; D002056:Burns / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies