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An Exploratory Study Evaluating Responses to the Disclosure of Stressful Life Experiences as They Occurred in Real Time

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Melissa Ming Foynes
Melissa Ming Foynes
Melissa Ming Foynes
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Jennifer Freyd at University of Oregon
Jennifer Freyd
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Abstract

Recovery from stressful life experiences, including traumas, frequently involves telling others what happened. While it has been previously demonstrated that supportive responses to disclosures of such experiences are important predictors of positive outcome, less is known about the constituents of supportive responses. This exploratory study was meant to help operationalize supportive responses to first-time disclosures. The sample comprised 53 dyads of university students and community members. One member of each pair was randomly selected to disclose an experience not previously disclosed to the other participant; this interaction was videotaped for subsequent coding and analyses. Participants completed pre- and postdisclosure self-report measures. Using the coders' and disclosers' ratings of listeners' behaviors, we examined the impact of listeners' verbal and nonverbal responses to disclosures and identified two modifiable behaviors (interruptions and posture) that contributed to conveying support. Results indicated that leaning backward was associated with coders' ratings of negative responses to disclosure and moderate levels of interruption were associated with the most supportive responses to disclosure. Relational health was found to be a strong predictor of disclosers' perceptions of support. Despite its limitations, this study represents an important preliminary step in research examining supportive responses to disclosure and identifying characteristics of supportive responses. Such information can be used to guide friends and family in responding more supportively to first-time disclosures of stressful life experiences.
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... Sources who disclosed a greater amount were liked more by disclosure recipients. Additionally, relationship satisfaction (Meeks, Hendrick, & Hendrick, 1998;Sprecher & Hedrick, 2004) and social support (Derlega et al., 1993;Foynes & Freyd, 2013) have been identified as important outcomes related to self-disclosure. Self-disclosure is a mechanism through which one can marshal support from one's social network and can serve as a reward that results in increased relationship satisfaction. ...
... Liking, relationship satisfaction, and the propensity to provide social support to the discloser are the outcome variables considered in this project. Liking (Collins & Miller, 1994), relationship satisfaction (Meeks et al., 1998;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004), and social support (Derlega et al., 1993;Foynes & Freyd, 2013) have been identified as important outcomes of self-disclosure in personal relationships and, thus, offer relevant indicators of the consequences associated with receiving superficial self-disclosures. ...
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... They also assert the importance of the relationship between the discloser and the hearer of the disclosure as being key to how supportive the discloser finds the experience. Those who experience high betrayal require a more intimate and interpersonal disclosure process ( Foynes and Freyd, 2013) in order to minimise any negative impact of sharing. Considering this then, asking people to revisit trauma in an assessment and not responding in an empathic or supportive way is likely to be adding to the trauma burden for that person. ...
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The UK national policy on self-harm states that people who have self-harmed should be offered assessment by mental health services during an admission to a general hospital. However there is no empirical evidence underpinning this policy statement and there is a dearth of information regarding the experience of people who self-harm and are assessed in a general hospital. The aim of this research was to explore the lived experience of contact with mental health services for ten people admitted to a general hospital following self-harm. A phenomenological approach utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was adopted to explore this experience. Findings revealed the experience to encompass four superordinate themes which contained lower ordinate themes: (i) internal barriers to getting the help needed; (ii) the business of being human; (iii) traumatising environment; (iv) patient power. The study concluded that the interaction between mental health services and the person who has self-harmed has the potential to be life affirming and transformational but only if it is skilfully conducted and the relationship between practitioner and patient is a positive one. Further implications for both services and individual practitioners are considered alongside recommendations for future practice.
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... These are recognized as challenges in completing an e-survey anonymously in order to secure increased participation, especially in a context where societal factors stigmatizing CSA are present. Future wok should consider the effects of disclosure by providing pre-and post-survey mood ratings and measuring the impact of events with the intention of offering immediate online support (i.e., online helpline accessible while completing the e-survey; Labott, Johnson, Fendrich, & Feeny, 2013;Foynes & Freyd, 2013). In addition, participants should be given the option to provide contact information and if needed they can be contacted by the researchers to offer information on accessing support services. ...
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... Extensive evidence attests to the impact of individual nonverbal cues in supportive talk (e.g., Foynes & Freyd, 2013), suggesting a powerful independent effect of nonverbal immediacy on emotional improvement. That is, the nonverbal immediacy cues exhibited by the listener generate greater emotional improvement in the discloser. ...
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