Shame-Focused Coping: An Empirical Study of the Compass of Shame

Elison, Jeff; Pulos, Steven; Lennon, Randy

doi:10.2224/sbp.2006.34.2.161

Cited by 60 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…SDDS. To quantify the SDDS assessment systematically, participants were first introduced to examples of shameful experiences by filling out the Compass of Shame Scale (CoSS) (51), which sketches four shame-eliciting scenarios and makes an inventory of responses. The CoSS was implemented immediately before the SDDS assessment to facilitate reminiscences of personal shameful experiences.…”

Section: Questionnairesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Wassing

Benjamins

Dekker

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

145

121

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The mechanisms underlying hyperarousal, the key symptom of insomnia, have remained elusive, hampering cause-targeted treatment. Recently, restless rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep emerged as a robust signature of sleep in insomnia. Given the role of REM sleep in emotion regulation, we hypothesized that restless REM sleep could interfere with the overnight resolution of emotional distress, thus contributing to accumulation of arousal. Participants (n = 1,199) completed questionnaires on insomnia severity, hyperarousal, self-conscious emotional distress, and thought-like nocturnal mentation that was validated to be a specific proxy for restless REM sleep (selective fragmentation: R = 0.57, P < 0.001; eye movement density: R = 0.46, P < 0.01) in 32 polysomnographically assessed participants. The experience of distress lasting overnight increased with insomnia severity (β = 0.29, P < 10 −23 ), whereas shortlasting distress did not (β = −0.02, P = 0.41). Insomnia severity was associated with hyperarousal (β = 0.47, P < 10 −63 ) and with the thought-like nocturnal mentation that is specifically associated with restless REM sleep (β = 0.31, P < 10 −26 ). Structural equation modeling showed that 62.4% of the association between these key characteristics of insomnia was mediated specifically by reduced overnight resolution of emotional distress. The model outperformed all alternative mediation pathways. The findings suggest that restless REM sleep reflects a process that interferes with the overnight resolution of distress. Its accumulation may promote the development of chronic hyperarousal, giving clinical relevance to the role of REM sleep in emotion regulation in insomnia, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder.B oth insomnia and affective disorders are among the most prevalent and burdening health concerns facing our society. Targeted prevention of affective disorders in people at risk, as well as identification of mechanisms of conversion, could be the most viable approach to mitigate their increasing global burden (1). For the prevention of new-onset or recurrent affective disorder, insomnia may be the major risk factor that can be targeted best (2, 3). About 13% of people with insomnia develop major depression disorder (MDD) within a year (2). Moreover, remission rates after cognitive behavioral therapy are 21% lower for depressed patients with abnormal sleep compared with patients with relatively intact sleep (4). It therefore appears highly relevant to understand the mechanisms involved in the role of insomnia in disturbed emotion regulation (2). The present study addresses the roles of restless rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (5) and chronic physiological arousal (6), which are characteristic of both insomnia and MDD.Although sleep contributes to the more robust consolidation of emotional memories, relative to neutral memories (7, 8), their later recall is not associated with anywhere near the same magnitude of subjective emotional distress, autonomic arousal, and amygdala activation (7, 9-11). REM sleep p...

show abstract

Section: Questionnairesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Wassing

Benjamins

Dekker

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

145

121

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A recent experimental study has shown that trait shame was linked with emotional suppression (Lanteigne, Flynn, Eastabrook, & Hollenstein, 2014). This is important, because adopting maladaptive emotion regulation strategies for shame may ultimately lead to both internalizing (e.g., psychological distress) and externalizing (e.g., aggression) psychopathological symptoms (Elison, Pulos, & Lennon, 2006;Velotti et al, 2014). Therefore, it is possible that shame is associated with maladaptive emotion regulation, which in turn may explain the associations that shame has with psychopathological symptoms and aggression.…”

Section: Shame and Emotion Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faces of Shame: Implications for Self-Esteem, Emotion Regulation, Aggression, and Well-Being

Velotti

Garofalo

Bottazzi

et al. 2016

The Journal of Psychology

117

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Furthermore, because facilitated processing has been conceptualized as cognitive avoidance of the semantic content in order to avoid becoming overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts related to it (Constans, McCloskey, Vasterling, Bailey, & Mathews, 2004; Kyrios & Iob, 1998), an individual who experiences covert (“bypassed”) shame may process shame-relevant stimuli in a facilitated manner. Because avoidance is a primary maintenance factor in PTSD and avoidance (or “bypassing”) of shame-related cognitions is thought to serve as a means for coping with shame (Elison, Pulos, & Lennon, 2006), this effect may be especially prominent among individuals with more severe PTSD. Such processing could accelerate negative appraisals of ambiguous social situations and serve as an initial step in a cascade of processes that contribute to IPV perpetration.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, intimate partner violence perpetration, and the mediating role of shame processing bias

Sippel

Marshall

2011

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may produce internal “threats to the self,” which generate shame. Shame is theoretically and empirically linked to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. We examined relations among PTSD, cognitive processing of shame-relevant information, and IPV perpetration. Forty-seven community participants completed an emotional Stroop task with shame-relevant and neutral words. Stimuli were presented supraliminally (i.e., until vocal response) and subliminally (i.e., below an individualized threshold of conscious awareness). Facilitated color-naming of shame-relevant words (thought to reflect congruence between shame and self-schemas) mediated the relation between PTSD severity and IPV perpetration frequency. Mediation results for subliminal stimuli suggest that biased processing of shame cues may occur preconsciously and potentially catalyze processes (i.e., expectations of rejection in ambiguous situations with one's partner; avoidance that minimizes discomfort and protects self-image) that lead to IPV perpetration. Psychotherapeutic approaches to PTSD and IPV should consider the role of facilitated processing of shame cues.

show abstract

Shame-Focused Coping: An Empirical Study of the Compass of Shame

Cited by 60 publications

References 4 publications

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Faces of Shame: Implications for Self-Esteem, Emotion Regulation, Aggression, and Well-Being

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, intimate partner violence perpetration, and the mediating role of shame processing bias

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About