Contexts of Concealment: Initial Validation of Three Disclosure Avoidance Process Measures

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Withholding subjective distress is a complex, context-dependent decision.
• Existing measures often use unidimensional models, treating concealment-disclosure as a single trait.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a self-report inventory assessing multiple processes in emotional distress concealment and disclosure.
• To account for problem-context in measuring distress management.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Exploratory analysis of pilot items (N=373, male students).
• Study 2: Item refinement based on latent scale structure and concurrent criteria (N=297, mixed-gender community sample).
• Study 3: Confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance testing (N=978, international community sample).

Main Results:

• A three-factor model (Privacy Management, Disclosure Desire, Social Fear) was confirmed.
• The Contexts of Concealment Scales (CCS) demonstrated internal consistency.
• Scales showed expected associations with concealment, disclosure, depression, anxiety, loneliness, experiential avoidance, and self-stigma.

Conclusions:

• The CCS provides a multidimensional assessment of emotional distress concealment and disclosure.
• The findings support the model's validity and reliability across diverse samples and sexes.
• This tool can enhance understanding of how individuals manage subjective distress in different contexts.