Todd P B, Magarey C J
Br J Med Psychol. 1978 Jun;51(2):177-89. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1978.tb02462.x.
Terms derived from psychoanalytic theory such as the concepts of ego defences and affects, have often been regarded as inaccessible to operational analysis and measurement and therefore devoid of empirical meaning. However, these explanatory terms are frequently employed in hypotheses concerning the determinants of behaviour and outcome in naturally occurring illnesses, such as breast cancer as well as other life crises and stress situations. The results of the present study demonstrate not only that it is possible to operationally define and measure the ego defences and affects associated with the crisis induced by finding a breast symptom suggesting cancer and awaiting biopsy, but also that on the basis of such measurement, behaviour related to breast cancer can be predicted and hypotheses concerning the relevance of these variables to aetiology put to the test. The operational definitions and measurement methods described could also be modified for application in other crisis situations to which ego defences and affects are thought to be pertinent and the results of these operations compared empirically to determine the extent of their convergence. the methods can be used by independent observers with different theoretical and professional backgrounds. The delay by women in reporting breast symptoms to their doctors was strongly related to a combination of non-rational, unconscious psychological factors. Those who delayed used the ego defences of denial and suppression, not intellectualization-isolation, and verbally expressed depression but not anxiety while showing behavioural manifestations of anxiety. Conscious factors such as fear and education were unrelated to the length of delay. These findings have important implications for educators and doctors concerned with the early detection of breast cancer.
源自精神分析理论的术语，如自我防御和情感等概念，常常被认为无法进行操作性分析和测量，因此缺乏实证意义。然而，这些解释性术语经常被用于有关自然发生的疾病（如乳腺癌）以及其他生活危机和压力情境中行为和结果的决定因素的假设中。本研究结果不仅表明可以对与发现提示癌症的乳房症状并等待活检所引发的危机相关的自我防御和情感进行操作性定义和测量，而且基于这种测量，可以预测与乳腺癌相关的行为，并对这些变量与病因学相关性的假设进行检验。所描述的操作性定义和测量方法也可以进行修改，以应用于其他被认为与自我防御和情感相关的危机情境，并对这些操作的结果进行实证比较，以确定它们的趋同程度。这些方法可供具有不同理论和专业背景的独立观察者使用。女性向医生报告乳房症状的延迟与非理性、无意识的心理因素组合密切相关。那些延迟的人使用了否认和压抑的自我防御机制，而不是理智化隔离，并且口头表达了抑郁但没有焦虑，同时表现出焦虑的行为表现。恐惧和教育等有意识因素与延迟时间长短无关。这些发现对关注乳腺癌早期检测的教育工作者和医生具有重要意义。
