Examining the interaction effects of coping style and brief interventions in the treatment of postsurgical pain

Abstract

The present study sought to ameliorate two major deficiencies in the literature on treating response to surgery, viz., the failure to compare clearly delineated treatments, alone and in combination; and the failure to examine treatment X coping style interactions. Information imparting and brief relaxation were examined in this study as they interacted with an avoidance-sensitization coping style. No differences were found between treatments or coping styles. Sensitizers, on the other hand, were found to profit most from the relaxation training. Avoiders appeared to do well when they were left alone. The interaction effect was demonstrated for both self-report measures of pain and a behavioral measure of potency of medications ingested. The effects on self-report of pain were more evident on the second postsurgical day than on the fourth postsurgical day. The results indicate that brief relaxation training, often the only kind available to the medical psychologist dealing with surgical patients, is best confined to patients with a sensitizing coping style. Further, the results of this study, in conjunction with a reanalysis of previous studies, cast considerable doubt on information imparting when presented alone as a viable technique for reducing the distress consequent on surgery.

Preoperative preparation for surgery: an analysis of the effects of relaxation and information provision

“…The available evidence (e.g., Scott and Clum, 1984;Martelli et al, 1987;Gattuso et al, 1992) tends to confirm an interactional or congruency approach to coping. However, additional studies are needed in order to investigate under which conditions the congruency hypothesis is confirmed (e.g., on the interaction of situational variables, like self-efficacy, and coping styles).…”

“…The dispositional coping style of individuals is one of the most relevant parameters under study. In fact, a number of researchers have gathered data showing that psychological interventions are most effective when they are congruent with the individual's dispositional coping style (e.g., Scott and Clum, 1984;Martelli et al, 1987;Gattuso et al, 1992).…”

“…In practical terms, surgical patients' dispositional coping style has been successfully operationalized using a measure of repression±sensitization (see Scott and Clum, 1984), a measure of patients' preferences for self-treatment and information in health care settings (see Krantz et al, 1980) and the Miller measure of monitoring and blunting (see Miller, 1987). Research using the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS, Miller, 1987) has shown that high monitoring patients (i.e., individuals that look for surgical information) fare better when information is made available to them (see, e.g., Suls and Fletcher, 1985;Martelli et al, 1987;Suls and Wan, 1989;Steptoe et al, 1991;Gattuso et al, 1992;Miller, 1992;O'Halloran and Altmaier, 1995).…”

Preparation for oral surgery: Evaluating elements of coping

“…In practical terms, dispositional avoidance has been successfully operationalized using a measure of repression-sensitization (Scott and Clum, 1984) and using Miller's measure of Monitoring vs. Blunting (Miller Behavioral Style Scale;Miller, 1987). In general, it appears that those who characteristically want to have information and control do better with interventions that afford them more control and that individuals who prefer not to have control fare better when control is not so available.…”

Management of pain during abortion

“…1985, Wells 1982, Wilson 1981. These effects, however, are not consistent (Scott & Clum 1984, Voshall 1980. Laboratory studies provide support for the use of relaxation in the reduction of pain, however clinical application has not consistently been supported.…”