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The Heidelberg Prospective Intervention Study
... These works suggest that the excessive use of repressive and denying mechanisms or the general inhibition of emotional reactions may be related to the onset and development of malignant tumors. Grossarth-Maticek and colleagues [20][21][22] found that the Type I, or cancer prone, personality that is characterized by both lack of expression of emotions and hopelessness/helplessness and depression in response to stress predicted cancer onset. However, these works have since been criticized on methodologic [23][24][25] and related grounds [26]. ...
... Aggressive hostility, as measured by MMPI scores, was related to the subsequent development of colorectal cancer. Therefore, these results do not support the first hypothesis, nor do they add support to previous findings in which repression of emotions had been linked to immunosuppression and the development of cancer [20][21][22]27]. However, we did not directly assess Type I or Type C personality type in this study. ...
This study examined premorbid personality correlates of colon cancer and stage of presentation of colon cancer to health care providers. Sixty-one male veterans who completed the MMPI between 1947 and 1975 and were then diagnosed with colon cancer between 1977 and 1988 were matched with control patients. A 21-factor solution of the MMPI [1] was used to seek potential personality differences between colon cancer cases and their controls in terms of presence of colon cancer and stage of presentation for this disease. A stepwise conditional regression analysis found significant differences between the colon cancer and control groups on the Aggressive Hostility variable (p < 0.018). A multivariate analysis of variance conducted across the stages of colon cancer presentation found that patients who presented later on for colon cancer had higher Phobia scores (p < 0.05). Religious Fundamentalism was also related to presentation (p < 0.05), but in a nonlinear manner. Discussion is related to previous findings regarding the relationship between personality and development of cancer, as well as to implications for patient screening.
... Los resultados de estos estudios indican que la supresión emocional tiene un valor predictivo significativo en relación con la incidencia de pacientes con cáncer (Grossarth-Maticek, Kanazir, Schmidt y Vetter, 1982a). Este mismo grupo de investigadores reportó que la tendencia a suprimir emociones era altamente predictiva de mortalidad en pacientes con cáncer (Grossarth-Maticek, Bastiaans y Kanazir, 1985;Grossarth-Maticek, Eysenck y Vetter, 1988a, 1988b. Existe un amplio número de estudios de investigación realizados últimamente, los cuales corroboran estos resultados. ...
RESUMEN Se describe la importancia del estudio de la cólera o rabia y sus efectos en la salud, haciendo referencia a las enfermedades cardiovasculares, cáncer y VIH/SIDA. Se presenta un análisis de los aspectos conceptuales y teóricos de la expresión y supresión de la cólera o rabia. El propósito de este artículo es reportar la construcción del Inventario Multicultural Latinoamericano de la Expresión de la Cólera (IMULEC). Siguiendo el marco teórico y conceptual existente de la expresión y supresión de la Cólera, se procedió a la elaboración de items que conforman el IMULEC. En base a una muestra multicultural con participantes de diversos países latinoamericanos, se realizó un análisis factorial de componentes principales con rotaciones promax con el fin de determinar el nivel de correspondencia de la estructura factorial del instrumento. Los resultados confirman un elevado nivel de similitud entre el State Trait Anger Expression Inventory-STAXI y el IMULEC en relación con las soluciones factoriales encontradas. Así mismo, el IMULEC demuestra un alto nivel de validez de constructo y de consistencia interna, reflejada en su estructura factorial y coeficientes alfa. SUMMARY The importance of research on anger and its consequences on health, particularly on cardiovascular disease, cancer and HIV/AIDS is described. We present a view of the conceptual and theoretical framework of the expression and supression of anger. The goal of this study was to report the development of the Multicultural Latin American Anger Expression Inventory. In keeping with the STAXI conceptual definitions of anger expression and supression, new items were also constructed to replace those containing English idiomatic expressions. Responses to the items, were factored in separate principal factor analysis with promax rotations to determine the level of correspondence of factor structure between these two instruments. The analyses substantially verified the factor structure of the STAXI in a Latin American sample. The IMULEC presents with empirical evidence that demonstrates a high degree of construct validity and internal consistency as shown by its factorial structure and alpha correlations.
... Si la psicología de la personalidad se reafirma, entonces es el momento de desarrollar sus posibilidades para explicar e intervenir sobre los aspectos más relevantes del mundo social. La salud es uno de esos ámbitos, muy productivo durante los 80 (véase, por ejemplo, la revisión de Monsalve, 1994); un amplio cuerpo de investigaciones sobre personalidad y salud (p.ej.,"tipos" asociados a enfermedades específicas; mecanismos que median entre personalidad y enfermedad; personalidades salutogénicas) despega en esta década (Antonovsky, 1987;Grossarth-Maticek et al., 1988;Kobasa, Maddi y Kahn, 1982). Otro gran campo de aplicaciones es el de las organizaciones. ...
This paper discusses trends in personality research for the last decades, paying special attention to its current status. To achieve this objective, we include a review of papers published, from January 2000 to June 2001, in five prominent journals. Each article was assessed in terms of content and methodology; the results are compared with reviews done in the 90s, and differences between European and North-American journals are examined. These data allow us to analyze the research fields which seem to consolidate; we also identify some methodological limitations which seem to persist, and we reflect on the probable and desirable futures of personality research. Este artículo discute la evolución de la investigación en personalidad durante las últimas décadas, y se detiene en la situación actual. Para ello, se incluye una revisión de los artículos publicados, entre enero de 2000 y junio de 2001, en cinco revistas de amplia difusión. Cada artículo fue examinado atendiendo a sus contenidos y métodos; los resultados se comparan con los de revisiones realizadas durante los 90, y se analizan las diferencias entre revistas norteamericanas y europeas. Estos datos permiten examinar cuáles son los campos de investigación que parecen consolidarse, se identifican algunas limitaciones metodológicas que parecen persistentes y se reflexiona sobre los futuros previsibles y deseables de la investigación en personalidad.
The fact that colorectal cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and that it has become a major prematurely killing disease in almost every Western population makes this neoplastic entity a central target for preventive efforts. Some previously suggested associations between increased risk and dietary factors have recently turned out to be inconsistent in adequately conducted studies which have to be considered to be of importance, thus leaving doubts regarding the value of certain recommendations. This absence of factors which increase risk consistently makes it mandatory to focus on other more likely indicators for elevated risks and also on more manageable factors in prevention.
Die menschliche Gesundheit und die Entstehung von Krankheiten sind in ihren bio-psychosozialen Aspekten so komplex, dass es durch monokausal-linear orientierte Forschung kaum möglich ist, die systemischen Wechselwirkungen zu erfassen und die Gesundheit ins hohe Alter oder Krankheit vorherzusagen.
In his generalizations regarding inferences from animal studies on risk estimates for radiation carcinogenesis, at a recent workshop in Germany (Bad Munstereifel, September, 1989), Dr. Upton emphasized the importance of the “make-up” of the host and of host susceptibility, i.e., variations in excess cancer rates by animal strain, sex and age. It appears that what is valid for research based on animal experimentation may also apply to human population-based approaches such as epidemiologic research.
In this chapter, Eysenck relates that since the times of Hippocrates and Galen there has been the tradition in medicine that certain personality characteristics are related to specific diseases. For example, the lack of emotional expression and feelings of impotence in the presence of unavoidable stress are characteristics attributed to victims of cancer. Cancer and heart disease are the focus here, as the evidence of consistent but contrasting personality characteristics being related to each is described. Past attempts at research in this area are criticized for their lack of theory, as Eysenck emphasizes the importance of putting forward hypotheses that can be tested, rather than pointing to correlations that cannot be interpreted causally. The bulk of the paper is given over to a description of two large-scale prospective studies, in two different parts of Europe: Crevenka, Yugoslavia and Heidelberg, West Germany. The striking thing about the two studies is the remarkable similarity of the data with relating personality characteristics and cancer/cardiovascular disease. Subjects were divided into four broad categories, the principal ones being Type I (cancer-prone—hopelessness, helplessness, depressive feelings, and repression in the face of stress) and Type II (coronary-prone—responding to stress with emotional expression, anger, irritation, and having unstable emotional relations). The hypothesized relationship was demonstrated. In both samples, Type I subjects were more likely than others to die of cancer, while Type II subjects were more like to suffer mortality due to infarct or stroke.
As noted in a previous chapter, Watson’s theory of neurosis is untenable in its original form, and inevitably the 65 years that have elapsed since its publication have unearthed a great deal of evidence to suggest ways in which the theory could be improved, and in part altered. Previous chapters have dealt with changes in the interpretation of conditioning, incorporating cognitive mechanisms, the development of the notion of “incubation of anxiety,” and the shift from Pavlovian A to Pavlovian B conditioning; and the general shift away from S-R to S-S interpretations of conditioning phenomena. In this chapter we will deal with a rather different set of assumptions made by Watson, but clearly erroneous, and shown to be untenable by recent work. These studies deal with the alleged equipotentiality of stimuli, that is, the notion that from the point of view of conditioning all stimuli, however artificial, may be considered equally likely to produce conditioned responses when paired with the UCS; and the more general question of the preparedness of certain stimuli to become associated with UCSs. These problems are considered within the general framework of the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in predisposing a person to develop neurotic disorders.
Se describe la importancia del estudio de la ira y hostilidad. Presentamos un análisis de los aspectos conceptuales y teóricos de la expresión y supresión de la ira. El propósito de este artículo fue reportar las propiedades psicométricas del Inventario Multicultural de la Expresión de la Ira y Hostilidad (IMIHOS), en base a una muestra multicultural con participantes de diversos países de América Latina. Se realizó un análisis factorial de componentes principales con rotaciones promax con el fin de determinar el nivel de correspondencia de la estructura factorial del instrumento. Los resultados reportados demuestran un elevado nivel de validez de constructo y consistencia interna, reflejada por su estructura factorial y coeficientes alpha de Cronbach. Palabras clave: Ira, hostilidad, validez de constructo, investigación transcultural. We present a view of the conceptual and theoretical framework of the expression and suppression of anger. The goal of this study was to report the development of the Multicultural Anger Expression and Hostility Inventory. Responses to the items were factored in separate principal component factor analysis with promax rotations to determine the level of factor structure. The analyses substantially verified the factor structure of previous studies in Latin American samples. The instrument presents with empirical evidence that demonstrates a high degree of construct validity and internal consistency as shown by its factorial structure and alpha correlations. A importância do estudo da raiva e hostilidade é descrito. Nós apresentamos uma análise dos aspectos conceituais e teóricos da expressão e supressão da raiva. O objetivo deste artigo é relatar as propriedades psicométricas do Inventário de Expressão Multicultural de raiva e hostilidade (IMIHOS), com base em uma amostra multicultural com participantes de vários países da América Latina. A análise factorial de componentes principais com rotações Promax, a fim de determinar o nível de correspondência na estrutura do instrumento foi conduzido. Os resultados apresentados demonstram um alto nível de validade de construto e consistência interna, como refletido pela sua estrutura fatorial e coeficientes alfa de Cronbach. Palavras-chave: raiva, hostilidade, validade de constructo, a pesquisa transcultural.
Three experiments are reported in which details about personality, stress, smoking and other variables are elicited at the beginning of the study, and death and cause of deàth ascertained ten years later. It is found that personality and stress can successfully predict cancer and coronary heart disease, and do so very significantly better than does cigarette consumption. Behaviour therapy is shown to be able prophylactically to reduce very significantly the risk of cancer or coronary heart disease.
The Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) and Need for Harmony (N/H) scales developed by Spielberger were administered to 311 women with breast cancer and 103 healthy women. Women with breast cancer were assessed after diagnosis (74), during treatment (105) and during follow-up, approximately 12 months after treatment (132). Women with breast cancer had substantially higher scores than healthy women in rationality and emotional defensiveness (or anti-emotionality), and need for harmony. All comparisons were less than p < .0000. Rationality/emotional defensiveness and need for harmony scores classified correctly 86 per cent of the participants (87 per cent of the breast cancer patients and 82 per cent of the healthy participants). Although older participants in both groups had higher scores on R/EM and N/H, women with breast cancer had higher scores than healthy women if age was controlled for. Results support previous studies, and are in accordance with other findings showing that breast cancer patients tend to suppress, inhibit, repress or deny their emotions, as well as are ready to sacrifice their needs in order to achieve and maintain harmonious interpersonal relationships.
Several prospective studies conducted by H. Eysenck and R. Grossarth-Maticek have demonstrated that personality can be considered as a risk factor in cancer and coronary heart disease. It was found that persons being prone to certain kinds of illness showed different types of reactions to interpersonal stress. A questionnaire developed by Grossarth-Maticek and Eysenck to measure 6 different reaction types was applied to a sample of persons who were suffering from different kinds of psychosomatic complaints and who were attending relaxation training programs, and to a sample of students. In addition, data concerning personality, coping-styles and health behavior were collected in both samples. It was found (1) that Grossarth-Maticek and Eysenck's behavior types were markedly correlated with basic personality dimensions, such as Neuroticism, Extraversion, Psychoticism and open vs closed mindedness (Rokeach, 1960, The open and closed mind. New York: Basic Books), (2) that these behavior types were connected with different types of coping, and (3) that finally these behavior types were associated with different kinds of psychosomatic complaints and diseases, as well as cancer and coronary heart disease.
Psychometric properties of the R/ED Scale were investigated in four samples of Spanish populations: male (n = 98) and female (n = 239) students, healthy women (n = 96), women with benign breast disease (n = 90), and women with breast cancer (n = 122). Analyses reveal high inter-item consistency (Cronbach's alpha from 0.82 to 0.87), high item remainder correlations (ranking from 0.63 to 0.32), high test-retest reliability (15 days, r = 0.81), and no significant correlations between R/ED Scale and Social Desirability (r = −0.17) and faking (r = −0.09) were found. In line with Spielberger and colleagues' results, factorial analysis reveals the stability (across samples) of two factors, so called, ‘Rationality’ and ‘Emotional Defensiveness’. Finally, R/ED (R and ED Subscales) scores as well as item scores significantly differ between the breast cancer group and the other groups. These results are congruent with those obtained by Spielberger and associates as well as supporting the hypothesis that cancer patients have a specific behavioral pattern.
It is argued that the ancient Cartesian body-mind separation still haunts psychology and medicine, and has led to a restriction of theoretical and applied psychological work to psychiatry. It is suggested that psychosocial factors, such as personality, stress, and coping behavior have relevance to many medical disorders normally considered to be of purely physical origin. It is also suggested that it is possible to postulate causal factors relating these psychosocial factors to the immune system, hormones and peptides, and the limbic system in general. A detailed discussion is given of work that has recently been done on the relationship between psychosocial factors and cancer, including the prophylactic use of behaviour therapy to alter some of the psychosocial factors to make possible the prevention of cancer, or the prolongation of life in patients who are incurably ill.
One-hundred and ninety-two probands were selected on the basis of personality questionnaires as being cancer-prone (100) or CHD-prone (92). They were then randomly divided into a control and a treatment group, the latter receiving a special kind of behaviour therapy attempting to change the personality patterns in the direction of a healthier, more autonomous personality. Follow-up after 10 and 13 years disclosed significantly lower death rates in probands receiving prophylactic treatment than in controls. Of special interest was the degree of sclerosis in the fundus of the eye, rateds on a 3-point scale. This was significantly higher prior to therapy in the CHD-prone group than in the cancer-prone group. Treatment reduced the degree of sclerosis, particularly in the CHD group; lack of treatment was followed by an increase in sclerosis. Similar but less marked changes were found in the cancer-prone group. Clearly psychological treatment affects significantly bodily functions associated with CHD. Other risk factors considered were systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood cholesterol and blood sugar, all of which, together with personality, influenced the degree of sclerosis observed.
This paper describes a novel method of behaviour therapy applied to cancer-prone and coronary heart disease-prone patients in a prophylactic manner, to reduce the probability of their dying of cancer or coronary heart disease. The treatment can also be applied to patients already suffering from cancer in order to prolong their lives. The methods used are described in considerable detail, together with the rationale leading to their adoption. In Part II of this paper are the results of several studies showing that the methods are surprisingly successful in preventing death in cancer-prone and coronary heart disease-prone probands, and prolonging life in patients already suffering from terminal disease.
It has been shown repeatedly that behaviour therapy fulfils a useful prophylactic function in the prevention of cancer and coronary heart disease. The present study investigates the effects of orthodox psychoanalytic treatment on the eventual probability of death from cancer and coronary heart disease in probands treated by psychoanalysis for over two years, probands who broke off psychoanalytic treatment after less than two years, and various control groups. Psychoanalysis is shown to have a significantly negative effect on survival after seven years follow-up.
We conducted a cross-sectional study among 302 healthy Japanese male workers to make a mechanistic approach to the association between personality types and cancer; two types of personality, the emotionally unstable-introvert and the emotionally stable-extravert, were compared with each other in lifestyle, mental stress status, and biological markers such as plasma levels of neurotransmitters and NK activity of peripheral lymphocytes. We first found that emotionally unstable-introverts have a more unhealthy lifestyle associated with low NK activity than among stable-extraverts, along with higher sensitivity to mental stress (also known to suppress NK activity) than stable-extraverts. Second, emotionally unstable-introverts were found to have in fact decreased NK activity along with higher plasma levels of noradrenaline, when compared with stable-extraverts. Our results thus demonstrate that emotionally unstable-introverts have a decreased capacity of immunological host defense against cancer, which is possibly due to two factors, unhealthy lifestyle and high sensitivity to mental stress.
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