Remaining Classes

04/23 Traumatic Events

04/25 Emotional Broadcaster

Diary Write-Up Due

04/30 Emotions and Perception

05/02 Final Exam Review

05/14 Final Exam, 11:45-2:45

Managing Emotions (continued)

Class 24

Other Disclosure Studies Show:Disclosure higher T-Cell count

improved antibody response to Epstein-Barr

improved antibody response to Hepatitis B

Improved management of chronic illness:

Diabetes

Asthma

Other chronic illness

Effect replicated in scores of studies, by many different researchers

Benjamin Franklin's Anger

Management Method

Disclosure and Closeness to Offenders(Harber & Wenberg, 2005)

Subjects recall: Close friend

Neutral person

Person who betrayed them

Write: Thoughts and feelings

Facts only (person’s height, features)

Outcome: Closeness toward recalled person

Results: Disclosure and Closeness

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Friend Acquaintance Offender

Clo

se

ne

ss

Disclose

Suppress

Results: Disclosure and Closeness

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Friend Acquaintance Offender

Clo

se

ne

ss

Disclose

Suppress

Collective Coping

Class 25

Disasters

What makes something a disaster?

Schemas and Emotion

Mighty tree that sheds acorns?

Soft drink, rival of Pepsi?

Very brief story with funny ending?

Gray/black fumes that arise from a fire?

The white part of an egg?

Oak

Coke

Joke

Smoke

Albumin

Basic Beliefs / Fundamental Assumptions

The world is just

The world is orderly, not chaotic or random

One’s self is good and competent

Traumas are events that violate fundamental assumptions (aka "basic beliefs")

The world is just [???]

The world is orderly, not chaotic or random [???]

One’s self is good and competent

Major Events Challenge Basic Beliefs

The Loma Prieta Earthquake, CA 1989

Characteristics of Quake

7.1 on Richter scale

Duration: 15 seconds

Most intense seismic event since 1906 quake, which destroyed SF

Effects of Quake

Deaths = 60 +

Injured = 3700

Displaced = 12,000

Damage = $6 billion

My Quake Survey Journey

SF to Oakland Ferry

Jack London Square

Office Worker's Survey request

Husband's survey request

What was going on?

Disclosure and CopingSchacter Anxiety and Affiliation Studies

a. Clarify causes of distress

b. Validates own emotions

Sympathetic Listening as Key to Social Support

a. Making sense of trauma

b. Perspective, insight

Failure to Disclose is a Health Risk

a. Suppression physically effortful

b. Prolonged suppression chronic stress

c. Disclosure stops suppression, reduces illness

Health Benefits of DisclosureImmediate Lowered heart rate

Lowered skin conductance

Reduced muscle tension

Long term health Fewer MD visits

Fewer symptoms

Stronger immune system

Long term coping Reduced depression, stress

higher grades, less absenteeism

Quicker re-employment after loss

Listening Isn’t Easy

Contagion of Distress

Holocaust survivors study

Vicarious traumatization among therapists

Avoidance of the supporter role

Pseudo-sympathetic responses

Outright rejection

Social Dilemma of Collective Coping

People simultaneously placed in two roles:

1. Seek out others for support

2. Sought out as a support source for others

AND

1. Telling your problem advances coping

2. Hearing others disclose is a stressor

Survey of Disaster Research from 1959 to 1989: A review of 73 published studies.

Gathered comparison group data: 27%

Gathered data two times after event 30%

Gathered data 3 + times after event 14%

Gathered data no later than weeks after event 25%

Meet all the above criteria 0

Quake Study Survey Locations

Timeline of Quake Study

Q WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK WEEK --- WEEK --- WEEK --- WEEK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 16 28 50

Quake Study Method

Sample size: 789 residents (SF, Sac, S. Cal, Dallas)

Data gathering method:

Phone survey

Random digit dialing

Calls made 6:30 – 9:30, weeknights only

Survey lasts 10 minutes

Survey Content

Communication: Thinking, talking, listening

Emotional reactions

Physical symptoms

Coping tactics: praying, joking, drinking

Rates of Talking and Thinking Following the Loma Prieta Earthquake:

Bay Area Only

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Start Week1

Week2

Week3

Week6

Week8

Week16

Thought

Talked

“Thank you for not sharing your earthquake experience with me”

T-shirts in Palo Alto during weeks 3-6 after the quake

Percent Reporting an Earthquake-Related Dream, SF vs. Other Locations

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Start

Wee

k 1

Wee

k 2

Wee

k 3

Wee

k 6

Wee

k 8

Wee

k 16

Per

cent

San Francisco

ComparisonCities

Percent Reporting an Argument with Family or Co-Workers During the Prior Week

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Start

Wee

k 1

Wee

k 2

Wee

k 3

Wee

k 6

Wee

k 8

Wee

k 16

Wee

k 28

Wee

k 50

Pe

rce

nt

San Francisco

ComparisonCities

Percentage Change in Aggravated Assaults From Year Before Quake to Year After Quake

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

Pe

rce

nt

Rates of Quake Related Joking

-0.6-0.4-0.2

00.20.40.60.8

11.21.41.6

Start

Wee

k 2

Wee

k 6

Wee

k 16

Wee

k 50

Ra

ting

s in

Z u

nits

San Francisco

ComparisonCities

A need to be shaken and stirred?

“But deep in my heart I know not that a major disaster would be deliverance from my drab, wretched life – salvation from the old week-by-week, a chance for two-bit heroics blown up on the front page … . I’ve talked to others, and I’m not alone. Maybe we crave a chance to be stouthearted for once and have a real situation to cope with.”

Michael Hood, NPR Reporter

Commenting on minor quake in Seattle, WA

05/09/96

The Three Stage Model of Collective Coping

The Three Stage Model of Collective Coping

Persian Gulf War I

500000 US soldiers in harms way

Experts predict 1000s of US casualties

Fears of nuclear weapons, poison gas

Fears of terrorism at home

Yellow ribbons, prayer sessions

Media barrage of war-relate stories

Persian Gulf War Study

Survey nearly identical to that used in Quake Study

Participants contacted randomly

All participants were Dallas, TX residents

No “comparison sample” possible

Rates and Talking and Thinking Following the Persian Gulf War

02468

101214161820

Start

Wee

k 1

Wee

k 2

Wee

k 3

Wee

k 4

Wee

k 5

Wee

k 6

Wee

k 7

Wee

k 8

Wee

k 11

Ra

ting

s in

Z u

nits

Thought

Talked

Rates of Event-Related Dreaming, Following the Quake and Following the War

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Start

Wee

k 1

Wee

k 2

Wee

k 3

Wee

k 4

Wee

k 5

Wee

k 6

Wee

k 7

Wee

k 8

Ra

ting

s in

Z u

nits

Quake (SF)

War (Dallas)

Rate of Increased Aggravated Assaults, Dallas, 1991 (War) vs. 1990 (Pre-War)

-40

-200

20

40

6080

100

Pe

rce

nt

of

Incre

ase

d A

ssa

ults

Implications of Collective Coping Research

1. Coping appears to occur in a three-stage manner

1. Emergency

2. Inhibition

3. Recovery

2. Public safety should be on especial alert during inhibition stage

3. Emotions are negotiated events; we need to share the burden of disclosure and listening.