Social barriers to emotional expression and their relations to distress in male and female cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
Emotional expression is an important means of coping with stressful experiences such as cancer. Social barriers to expression may have adverse effects. Research has suggested that men are less likely to express their emotions and have different patterns of social support compared to women. We examined whether male cancer patients have a lower tendency to express emotions, are less likely to perceive social barriers to expression, and are differentially affected by social barriers from different support sources as compared to women.


METHODS
Questionnaires were administered to 41 women and 41 men using a cross-sectional study design.


METHODS
Patients diagnosed with gynaecological or prostate cancer within the past 5 years completed questionnaires on moods, intrusive thoughts, social constraints and emotional expressivity.


RESULTS
There was a trend towards greater emotional expressivity in women as compared to men, but no significant gender differences in perceptions of social constraints from spouse/partner or others. Multiple regression analyses revealed that men experienced significantly greater distress in association with social constraints from their spouse/partner than did women.


CONCLUSIONS
Men may be more vulnerable to social barriers to expression than previously assumed. Gender differences in emotional expressivity may be less important than the social context in which expression takes place.
Zakowski
Sandra G
SG
Department of Psychology, Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, USA. Sandra.zakowski@finchcms.edu
Harris
Casey
C
Krueger
Nancy
N
Laubmeier
Kimberly K
KK
Garrett
Susan
S
Flanigan
Robert
R
Johnson
Peter
P
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012924:Social Conditions; D012944:Social Support