Defense styles as predictors of personality disorder symptomatology

Abstract

The present study investigated whether defense styles, assessed by the Defense Styles Questionnaire (DSQ), predict personality disorder symptom levels, assessed by the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised (PDQ-R), in a manner consistent with Vaillant's (1971, 1977) hierarchical model of defense mechanisms. The DSQ and PDQ-R were administered to a mixed-sex sample of 106 undergraduate students. Results of multiple regression and correlational analyses were consistent with the predictions of Vaillant's model, in that: (1) the DSQ 'maladaptive' and 'image-distorting' defense styles were positively associated with the PDQ-R composite index, as well as with 11 and 7 PDQ-R personality disorder subscales, respectively; and (2) the DSQ 'adaptive' defense style was negatively associated with the PDQ-R composite index, as well as with 4 PDQ-R subscales. Each of the 14 PDQ-R scales demonstrated a unique pattern of associations with the 4 DSQ defense styles.