Immature defence style cluster has earlier been found to be a risk factor for eating disorders but the role of individual defence styles in the aetiology of these disorders has remained unknown. In a case±control design, 57 incident, consecutive female eating disorder patients aged 14±22 years were compared with 337 female control subjects, drawn from the general population and matched for age and hospital catchment area. Eating disorder patients had higher scores of sublimation, undoing, and passive aggression, and lower scores of displacement and splitting than controls. Patients with eating disorder differ signi®cantly from controls in the use of speci®c defence styles.