Prediction of physical indisposition with the help of a questionnaire for measuring denial and overcompensation

A questionnaire for assessing feelings of 'weakness' (the feeling of resentment, dependency, anxiety and vital exhaustion) as well as aggression and activity was presented to two groups of healthy men (n = 202 and 178, respectively). One group underwent self-evaluation by means of questionnaires and an interview. In the other group self-evaluation and evaluation by the partner were measured using questionnaires during two assessments with an interval of 6 months. The construct validity of the scales corresponded to that of an earlier study on acute myocardial infarct (AMI) patients. The reliability (internal consistency) of the scales was less satisfactory compared to the study on AMI patients. The congruent validity of the scales measuring experience of weakness appeared to be good. The method of score comparison for assessing denial of weakness and overcompensation (by means of aggression and activity) turned out to be reasonably valid, at least for the scales measuring weakness. Analysis of the predictive value of the derived scores for denial and overcompensation led to the finding that the men who reported more physical complaints 6 months after completion of the defence list had a higher mean denial score than the men who reported fewer somatic complaints after 6 months. This confirms the hypothesis that denial of one's own emotional condition in the long run leads to an increase in (reporting) somatic complaints.