Page 259 - Biobehavioral Resilence to Stress

236 Biobehavioral Resilience to Stress

Bisconti, Bergeman, and Boker (2004) recently reported findings that
are consistent with these predictions. These investigators attempted to test

the idea that “a stressful life event, such as the death of a spouse, per-
turbs the emotional well-being state of the individual away from equi-

librium, contributing to emotional shifts that vacillate between negative
and positive affect” (p. 164). Bisconti et al. obtained daily measures of

emotional well-being and depression from a sample of widows during
the first through the fourth month of bereavement following the death of

their spouses. Within the framework of DMA, the authors predicted that
the widows’ daily well-being ratings would conform to a linear oscilla-
tor model that resembles a “pendulum with friction” (p. 159). Because the
death of a loved one typically evokes acute reactions, oscillations would
tend to be more frequent and extreme soon after a loss and then gradu-

ally lessen in intensity and frequency over time. Bisconti et al.’s results
confirmed these predictions.

In another recent study, Coifman, Bonanno, and Rafaeli (2007) exam-
ined reports of positive and negative affects at multiple points during a single

interview in which recently bereaved individuals discussed various aspects of

their loss. These authors included a measure of the resilient outcome trajec-
tory. Again consistent with the DMA, bereaved individuals who followed the
resilient trajectory also demonstrated weaker (or less polarized) correlations
between positive and negative aff ects. Th is fi nding held even when the cur-
rent level of overall distress was statistically controlled. Together, these stud-
ies suggest that resilient individuals may possess a capacity for more complex
and fl exible affective experiences and further that this capacity helps them

to deal more adaptively with the potentially dysregulating impact of highly
aversive events.
Salutary functions of positive emotions. Positive emotion appears to be a

core element of emotional flexibility. Until recently, little attention had been
paid to the possible usefulness of positive emotions in the context of coping
with PTEs. In fact, researchers and theorists have commonly dismissed the
occurrence of positive emotions during or following stressful events, as sug-
gestive of unhealthy denial (e.g., Bowlby, 1980). A more recent and growing
body of empirical evidence indicates that positive emotions can help reduce
personal distress following aversive events by reducing or “undoing” negative
emotion and arousal (Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998; Keltner & Bonanno,
1997; Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004) and by fostering social connectedness
and integration (Bonanno & Keltner, 1997). Recently, Papa and Bonanno
(in press) have observed that these effects can occur simultaneously and

independently.
Several other recent studies have demonstrated the salutary eff ects
of positive emotion in the specific context of PTEs. Genuine laughs and

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