Publication | Closed Access
The relationship between repressive and defensive coping styles and monocyte, eosinophile, and serum glucose levels: support for the opioid peptide hypothesis of repression.
183
Citations
0
References
1988
Year
Psychological Co-morbiditiesRepressive CopingOpioid Peptide HypothesisPsychopathologyPsychoneuroimmunologyPsychiatryStress HormoneAddictionAffective NeuroscienceDepressionAllostatic LoadSocial SciencesBiological PsychiatryDefensive Coping StylesMedicineGlucose LevelsPsychologyOpioid Use Disorder
The opioid peptide hypothesis of repression (1) predicts that repressive coping is associated with increased functional endorphin levels in the brain, which can result in decreased immunocompetence and hyperglycemia. In a random sample of 312 patients seen at a Yale Medical School outpatient clinic, significant main effects of coping style were found for monocyte and eosinophile counts, serum glucose levels, and self-reports of medication allergies. Specifically, repressive and defensive high-anxious patients demonstrated significantly decreased monocyte counts. In addition, repressive coping was associated with elevated eosinophile counts, serum glucose levels, and self-reported reactions to medications. This behavioral, immunologic, and endocrine profile is consistent with the opioid peptide hypothesis, which provides an integrative framework for relating the attenuated emotional experience of pain and distress characteristic of repressive coping with reduced resistance to infectious and neoplastic disease.