Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, London, UK.
Stress. 2013 Mar;16(2):163-71. doi: 10.3109/10253890.2012.707709. Epub 2012 Oct 1.
Behavioural coping strategies represent a key means by which people regulate their stress levels. Attention has recently focused on the potential role in coping of 'displacement behaviour' - activities such as scratching, lip biting and face touching. Increased levels of displacement behaviour are associated with feelings of anxiety and stress; however, the extent to which displacement behaviour, as a short-term behavioural response to emotionally challenging stimuli, influences the subsequent experience of stress remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of displacement behaviour in coping with stress. In a study population of 42 healthy adult men (mean age = 28.09 years, SD = 7.98), we quantified displacement behaviour during a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and used self-report questionnaires to assess trait and state anxiety before the TSST, and the experience of stress afterwards. We predicted displacement behaviour would diminish the negative impact of the stressful situation, and hence be associated with lower post-TSST stress levels. Furthermore, we predicted displacement behaviour would mediate the link between state and trait anxiety on the one hand and the experience of stress on the other. Results showed the rate of displacement behaviour was positively correlated with state anxiety but unrelated to trait anxiety, and negatively correlated with the self-reported experience of stress, in agreement with the idea that displacement behaviour has a crucial impact on regulation of stress. Moreover, serial mediation analyses using a bias-corrected bootstrapping approach indicated displacement behaviour mediated the relationship between state anxiety and the experience of stress, and that state anxiety and displacement behaviour - in combination, respectively - mediated the link between trait anxiety and experience of stress. These results shed important new light on the function of displacement behaviour, and highlight promising new avenues for research into emotional expression and stress regulation.
行为应对策略是人们调节压力水平的重要手段。最近，人们关注到“替代行为”在应对中的潜在作用，即抓挠、咬嘴唇和摸脸等行为。替代行为水平的增加与焦虑和压力感有关；然而，作为对情绪挑战性刺激的短期行为反应，替代行为在多大程度上影响随后的压力体验仍知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨替代行为在应对压力中的潜在作用。在一个由 42 名健康成年男性组成的研究人群中（平均年龄=28.09 岁，标准差=7.98），我们在 Trier 社会压力测试（TSST）期间量化了替代行为，并使用自我报告问卷在 TSST 之前评估特质和状态焦虑，以及之后的压力体验。我们预测替代行为会减轻紧张情况的负面影响，因此与 TSST 后较低的压力水平相关。此外，我们预测替代行为将在状态和特质焦虑与压力体验之间的联系中起中介作用。结果表明，替代行为的速度与状态焦虑呈正相关，与特质焦虑无关，与自我报告的压力体验呈负相关，这与替代行为对压力调节有重要影响的观点一致。此外，使用偏差校正的自举法进行的系列中介分析表明，替代行为在状态焦虑和压力体验之间起中介作用，而状态焦虑和替代行为（分别）在特质焦虑和压力体验之间起中介作用。这些结果为替代行为的功能提供了重要的新视角，并强调了情感表达和压力调节研究的有前途的新途径。
