Defense Mechanisms in Rational Emotive Cognitive Behavior Therapy Personality Theory

Ziegler, Daniel

doi:10.1007/s10942-016-0234-2

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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Defense mechanisms (or 'defenses') are considered clinically valuable objects not only within the psychodynamic tradition, but also in other theoretical orientations (e.g., Di Giuseppe et al, 2019a;Euler et al, 2018;Ziegler, 2016). The current consensus is that defenses are "mechanisms that mediate the individual's reaction to emotional conflicts and to external stressors" (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013; p. 819).

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confidence: 99%

Defense mechanisms in adolescents at high risk of developing psychosis: An empirical investigation

Boldrini

Buglio

Giovanardi

et al. 2020

ResPsy

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Research within psychotherapy and psychopathology frameworks has been inspired by the central concept of defense mechanisms, which play a pivotal role in psychoanalysis. Defense specificities have only recently been studied systematically in the context of several clinical diagnoses. The present study aimed to explore the specificities of defense mechanisms in adolescents at ultra-high risk of developing psychosis and test the relationship between defensive functioning and attenuated psychotic symptoms. Twenty-six adolescent inpatients at ultra-high risk of developing psychosis and a matched clinical control group of inpatients not at risk of psychosis were interviewed. Two observer-rater methods, the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales and the Psychotic-Defense Mechanism Rating Scales were applied to interview transcripts to assess the individual use of defenses. Ultra-high-risk patients demonstrated lower defense mechanisms (i.e., total instances of defense mechanisms observed) and lower overall adaptiveness of the defenses presented. When specific differences between groups were observed, psychotic defenses were the sole defenses that could partially discriminate between ultra-high-risk and not at-risk patients. Regarding the relationship between defense mechanisms and subthreshold psychotic symptoms, psychotic defenses were associated with negative and disorganization symptoms, rather than with positive symptoms. The psychological vulnerability of ultra-high-risk patients is discussed and treatment implications for psychotherapy with such challenging patients are addressed.

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confidence: 99%

Defense mechanisms in adolescents at high risk of developing psychosis: An empirical investigation

Boldrini

Buglio

Giovanardi

et al. 2020

ResPsy

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“…The impact of an Eating Disorder (ED) on an individual's life can hinder their ability to cope with stressful situations (Ziegler, 2016 ). How a person copes with stressors (defence-style) in their environment is said to be a result of their subconscious mind, and can be altered by the presence of psychiatric illness (Vaillant, 1994 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Defence-styles, or defence mechanisms, are coping strategies at varying levels of adaptive coping (Ziegler, 2016 ). Defence-styles are anchored in psychological processes that occur subconsciously in order to reduce negative emotional responses caused by undesirable stimuli (Steiger and Zanko, 1990 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Defence-styles are anchored in psychological processes that occur subconsciously in order to reduce negative emotional responses caused by undesirable stimuli (Steiger and Zanko, 1990 ). Defence-styles were first hypothesised by Freud ( 1894 ), and to date include those of displacement, intellectualisation, projection, denial, rationalisation, reaction formation, repression, regression and sublimation (Ziegler, 2016 ). American psychiatrist Vaillant ( 1994 ) reorganised Freud's defence-styles into varying levels of: pathological, mature, immature, and neurotic styles, which scholars extensively use as a theoretical framework in current research to postulate underlying mechanisms that may explain certain behaviours (see Table 1 ) (Cramer, 2000 ; Cheng et al, 2015 ; Sala et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Healthy and unhealthy consequences may result to the individual, dependant on the frequency and circumstance the defence styles are used (Weiten, 2007 ; Costa and Brody, 2008 ). Psychoanalytic theory indicates that the subconscious mind can manipulate, deny or distort a person's perception of reality in order to protect against inappropriate impulses, anxieties, stimuli or emotions, and to maintain one's self-schema or other schema's (perceptions), an individual may have of the world (Bond et al, 1983 ; Steiger et al, 1989 , 1990 ; Steiner, 1990 ; Schmidt et al, 1993 ; Peteet, 2001 ; Hart et al, 2011 ; Ziegler, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Associations Between Defence-Style, Eating Disorder Symptoms, and Quality of Life in Community Sample of Women: A Longitudinal Exploratory Study

et al. 2021

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Background and Aim: Eating Disorders (EDs) impact an estimated 15% of the global population and are linked to maladaptive defence-styles (coping strategies) and poorer mental health outcomes. Defence-styles have been grouped into immature, neurotic, and mature behaviours. Studies have yet to examine all three defence-styles in ED symptomatic individuals over an extended period of time. The current study aimed to investigate using converse analysis the relationships between defence-style and ED outcomes over a 5-years period.Methods: Participants (n = 216, mean age 33 years) were recruited through the Women's Eating and Health Literacy study, with the current study examining a 5-years period of two waves (year-4 and year-9). The current study tested associations over time between eating pathology (EDE-Q), psychological distress (K10), mental and physical health related quality of life (M/PHRQoL, SF-12), and defence-style (DSQ-40).Results: Mature, immature and neurotic defence-styles did not significantly change over 5 years. Over the same period, only PHRQoL significantly predicted mature defence-styles having positive effect. Both MHRQoL and PHRQoL significantly predicted immature defence-styles having positive and negative effects, respectively. Psychological distress, PHRQoL and weight concern significantly predicted neurotic defence-styles having positive effects except for psychological distress. PHRQoL, MHRQoL, restraint and eating concern significantly predicted overall eating pathology having positive effects except for PHRQoL and MHRQoL. Conversely, among the defence-style variables, over 5 years, both immature and neurotic defence-styles significantly predicted psychological distress having positive effects, immature and mature defence-styles significantly predicted MHRQoL having negative and positive effects, respectively, while only immature defence-styles significantly predicted overall eating pathology having positive effect.Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that immaturity and neuroticism but not maturity were the defence-style variables predicting psychological distress over a 5-years period while conversely psychological distress predicted only neurotic defence styles. The findings of the current study may suggest that without intervention, mature, immature and neurotic defence-styles may largely remain immutable to significant shifts over time. Limitations in the current study included limited demographic representation. The current study is anticipated to generate considerations into treatments that could strengthen defence-styles in individuals with increased eating pathology.

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Coping and defense mechanisms: A scoping review.

Silverman¹,

Doorn²

2023

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice

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The relationship between coping and defense mechanisms warrants attention. These constructs have historically been conflated and difficult to distinguish, and have gained renewed research interest in recent years. Defense mechanisms are commonly seen as temporally stable, unconscious, and related to personality functioning while coping mechanisms are often seen as flexible, conscious, and stressor dependent. We conducted a scoping review of the empirical literature on the relationship between coping and defense mechanisms. A total of 35 empirical studies were identified, consisting of 23 cross-sectional and 12 longitudinal studies in psychiatric, medical, and community samples. The cross-sectional studies reported consistent relationships between maladaptive coping and immature defense mechanisms, as well as between adaptive coping mechanisms and mature defense mechanisms. The temporality and stability of adaptive functioning have produced inconsistent results and require further research. Although studies suggest that defense mechanisms can improve with therapeutic intervention, change in the use of coping mechanisms in therapy is less clear. We suggest future hypotheses and highlight the importance of novel developments in observer-rated measures of assessment that may be applied longitudinally over time. Public Health Significance StatementThis systematic review explores the empirical relationship between coping and defense mechanisms, reflecting issues of taxonomy, adaptiveness, and temporality. The identified studies show strong relationships between coping and defense mechanisms in cross-sectional research but reveal inconsistent relationships in longitudinal research.

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Defense Mechanisms in Rational Emotive Cognitive Behavior Therapy Personality Theory

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

Defense mechanisms in adolescents at high risk of developing psychosis: An empirical investigation

Defense mechanisms in adolescents at high risk of developing psychosis: An empirical investigation

Associations Between Defence-Style, Eating Disorder Symptoms, and Quality of Life in Community Sample of Women: A Longitudinal Exploratory Study

Coping and defense mechanisms: A scoping review.

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