Adaptation resources in subjects with social and psychosomatic disadaptation: A comparative analysis

Abstract

In the context of changing socio-economic conditions, it is very important to study the mechanisms of human adaptation and disadaptation. Coping strategies and psychological defense mechanisms, combined with the value system, were considered adaptive resources. Human response to uncertainty, stress or the frustrating factors of the social environment involves different levels, and consequences could be canalized in different ways. To carry out a comparative study of adaptive resources in patients with essential hypertension (psychosomatic disadaptation) and the unemployed (social disadaptation). To diagnose defense mechanisms, the LSI questionnaire by Plutchik, Kellerman & Conte was administered to the subjects. To study coping behavior, Lazarus's WCQ method was used. To assess values, an authorial technique by Deyneka was used. There were two study groups and one control group. In total, there were 165 subjects in the study (55 in each group). The mean age was 42.6 years, and there were 40% men and 60% women. In the unemployed group, defensive and coping behavior was characterized by excessive use of escape-avoidance and high levels of repression of traumatizing information, and in psychosomatic patients with essential hypertension there was excessive use of the coping style "accepting responsibility". Specificity of the problem areas of value systems in the two groups was found. Essential hypertension patients are characterized by problems in family relationships and by intrapsychic problems (horizontal conflicts). The unemployed are burdened with conflicts in the systems "employee-management", "citizen-state", and "individual-the world" (vertical conflicts). These results could be helpful for specialists in helping professions in their attempts to find reasons and problematic areas of individual's disadaptations at different levels.