Comparisons Between Illness and Injury Outcomes: Potential Suppression Effects by Emotional Representations

Background: Based on recent findings that people perceive illness and injury as separate categories, we compared ill and injured participants with similar health conditions on illness perceptions and reported outcomes, e.g., functioning, distress, well-being.

Method: A cross-sectional study with 182 ill and 160 injured participants affected by ankle, knee, or neck conditions compared them on standard measures of illness perception and other reported outcomes (self-assessed health; physical, emotional, and social functioning; depression, anxiety, and somatization; satisfaction with life, self-esteem, and acceptance of disability).

Results: The groups did not differ on the measured outcomes, but injury elicited stronger emotional representations, and illness was perceived as more chronic. After controlling for the effects of emotional representations, the injured group presented better outcomes on all outcome measures, including self-assessed health, physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, vitality, health beliefs, depression, somatization, total distress, and acceptance of disability.

Conclusion: Emotional representations may suppress the potential superior outcomes of injury compared with illness. The theoretical implications of these results for self-regulation theories are discussed, as well as clinical implications.