Shahane Anoushka D, Brown Ryan L, Denny Bryan T, Fagundes Christopher P
Department of Psychological Sciences.
Health Psychol. 2023 Jan;42(1):24-32. doi: 10.1037/hea0001207. Epub 2022 Sep 8.
The loss of a spouse is considered one of the most significant life change-related stressors. Bereaved spouses have significantly increased risk of chronic inflammation, and ultimately greater morbidity and mortality. High levels of proinflammatory cytokines are related to negative health outcomes. In bereavement, the ability to successfully regulate emotion is a vital skill for healthy coping and may represent a key psychological mechanism accounting for varying degrees of resilience. Psychological distancing is a frequently adaptive emotion regulation strategy in which an individual appraises a negative situation by taking a step back and distancing oneself, and coolly evaluates what is happening. The objective of the present work was to investigate whether psychological distancing, implemented via natural language use (i.e., linguistic distancing [LD]), is related to inflammation and bereavement-related health indicators.
Participants ( = 144) underwent a blood draw for the inflammation assay, completed questionnaire measures evaluating grief symptoms and health, and completed an oral task describing their relationship with their deceased spouse, which was used for the lexical analyses.
We found that LD was significantly associated with a panel of a priori proinflammatory stimulated cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-17A, and IL-2), bereavement-related health indices, and the relationship between grief symptoms and inflammation varied depending on the participants' implementation of LD.
LD may have a buffering effect for this vulnerable population. This work elucidates novel dependencies among language, emotion, and health. This work identifies resilience factors and probes the translational value of LD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
配偶离世被认为是与生活变化相关的最重大压力源之一。丧偶配偶患慢性炎症的风险显著增加，最终发病率和死亡率也更高。促炎细胞因子水平升高与不良健康结果相关。在丧亲之痛中，成功调节情绪的能力是健康应对的一项重要技能，可能代表了一种关键的心理机制，解释了不同程度的恢复力。心理疏离是一种常见的适应性情绪调节策略，个体通过退后一步、与自身保持距离来评估负面情况，并冷静地评估正在发生的事情。本研究的目的是调查通过自然语言使用（即语言疏离[LD]）实施的心理疏离是否与炎症及与丧亲相关的健康指标有关。
参与者（n = 144）接受抽血进行炎症检测，完成评估悲伤症状和健康状况的问卷调查，并完成一项口头任务，描述他们与已故配偶的关系，该任务用于词汇分析。
我们发现语言疏离与一组先验的促炎刺激细胞因子（肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-6、干扰素-γ、白细胞介素-17A和白细胞介素-2）、与丧亲相关的健康指标显著相关，并且悲伤症状与炎症之间的关系因参与者对语言疏离的运用情况而异。
语言疏离可能对这一脆弱群体具有缓冲作用。这项研究阐明了语言、情绪和健康之间新的依存关系。这项研究确定了恢复力因素，并探究了语言疏离的转化价值。（《心理学文摘数据库记录》（c）2023美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
