Response style and self-control under scud missile attacks: The case of the sealed room situation during the 1991 Gulf war

The interrelationships of coping responses, self-control and trait anxiety in Israeli university students during the 1991 Gulf war were investigated. Respondents (35 male and 58 female students) responded to a battery of questionnaires at the end of the war to assess these variables. Their responses, which referred to the sealed room situation, were characterized by attempts to help others and relatively low emotion-focused reactions. Based on factor analysis, a three-factor structure of response modes is suggested: instrumental, emotion-focused and blunting-like. Self-control was found to be associated with a lower intensity of the emotion-focused response mode. Trait anxiety did not correlate with any of the response modes.