Suppression, repressive-defensiveness, restraint, and distress in metastatic breast cancer: Separable or inseparable constructs?

A longstanding hypothesis links affective and behavioral inhibition with ca ncer incidence and progression though it does not clarify psychometric dist inctions among related constructs. We hypothesized that repressive-defensiv eness, suppression. restraint, and distress would be separable factors in o ur sample of metastatic breast cancer patients. Our results support the dis criminant validity of these constructs in our total sample, and the stabili ty over 1 year in our control group. Using factor analysis, we found 4 sepa rate factors at our prerandomization baseline corresponding closely to hypo thesized constructs. Additionally, associations in a multi-trait, multi-occ asion (baseline and 1 year) matrix met each of the 3 Campbell and Fiske (19 59) criteria of convergent and discriminant validity. Future research testi ng the links between psychological, physiological, and survival outcomes wi th affective inhibition in cancer patients will be clearer when informed by these distinctions.