Children's Defensive Responses and Emotional Upset Following a Disaster: A Projective Assessment

Projective stories were used to assess the defense mechanisms of 27 preadolescent boys who were victims of a lightning strike in which one boy died. Denial, projection, and identification, in combination, were found to be inversely related to clinical upset, as was the age and sex-appropriate individual defense of projection. in addition, low-defensive boys' self-reports of fears agreed more often with their parents' reports of sleep and somatic disturbances than did high-defensive boys' self-reports. The findings provide support for the validity of the Defense Mechanism Manual (Cramer, 1982) and raise the issue of defense mechanisms as moderator variables in self-report questionnaires.     

Influence of Deviant Friends on Delinquency: Searching for Moderator Variables

Three categories of potential moderators of the link between best friend's deviancy and boys' delinquency during early adolescence were investigated: personal (i.e., disruptiveneness profile during childhood, attitude toward delinquency), familial (i.e., parental monitoring, attachment to parents), and social (i.e., characteristics of other friends). Best friend's and other friends' deviancy were assessed during preadolescence through the use of peer ratings. Potential moderators were assessed at the same age period with teacher ratings or self-reports. Finally, delinquent behaviors were assessed at ages 13 and 14, as well as age 10 for control purposes, with self-reports. Results showed that boys' disruptiveness profiles during childhood, attachment to parents, and attitude toward delinquency moderated the link between best friend's deviancy and later delinquent behaviors. Other friends' deviancy and parental monitoring had main effects but no moderating effects. These results help clarify the conditions under which exposure to a deviant best friend can influence boys' delinquent behaviors. They also help to reconcile different theoretical explanations of the role of deviant friends in the development of delinquency.     

Academic cheating as a function of defense mechanisms and object relations

This study examined relationships between academic cheating behaviors by using self-reports of past cheating behavior, providing a situational experiment with the opportunity to cheat, and evaluating defense mechanisms and object relations as measured by the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Subjects included 75 female and 8 male university students ranging in age from 18 to 51 years (M=25.5, SD=6.9). Analysis showed variations in students' self-reported cheating history relative to their measured object relations status and type of defense mechanisms. Actual cheating in the experimental setting was not significantly related to any of these variables. Findings are discussed based on a critique of heterogeneity of the cheating construct.     

Reliability of an idiographic Q-sort measure of defense mechanisms

Despite the important insights the concept of defense mechanisms may offer to our understanding of human behavior, no standardized definitions of defense mechanisms have been universally accepted. Inconsistencies in the definition and conceptualization of defense mechanisms has limited the practical utility of research involving these constructs. In addition, lack of interrater reliability, use of anecdotal evidence, and reliance on self-reports has retarded their investigation. Conducting methodologically rigorous investigations with a psychometrically sound instrument is the first step in addressing some of the issues concerning defense mechanisms and their theoretical postulates. This study was conducted to determine the reliability associated with the Defense-Q, an observer-based Q-sort measure of defense mechanisms. Thirty participants who had undergone an interpersonally stressful interview (the Type A Structured Interview; Rosenman, 1978) were rated by 11 trained coders, both for their use of the 25 defense mechanisms and for their ego strength. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Individual defense mechanisms demonstrated reliability ranging from .28 (undoing) to .92 (humor), with an average reliability of .73. Coder reliability ranged from .63 to .76, with an average of .69. These results indicate that defense mechanisms can be reliably assessed by the Defense-Q. Reliability of the Defense-Q is compared to existing observational measures of defense mechanisms.     

Perfectionism, ego defense styles, and depression: a comparison of self-reports versus informant ratings

The present study examined the associations among perfectionism, defense styles, and depression in an Israeli community sample of young adults. This study involved a comparison of self-reports and informant ratings on all measures. A community sample of 210 pairs of same-sex best friends from Israel completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Defense Styles Questionnaire - 40, and a depression measure. Analyses confirmed that socially prescribed perfectionism is associated with depression, not only in terms of self-reports but also in terms of informant ratings. In addition, informant ratings revealed a link between other-oriented perfectionism and depression. Both self-reports and informant ratings also indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism is associated with immature defense styles and neurotic defense styles. Further simultaneous Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses of self-reports and informant ratings showed that maladaptive defense styles mediate the link between socially prescribed perfectionism and depression. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Reliability of an Idiographic Q-Sort Measure of Defense Mechanisms

Despite the important insights the concept of defense mechanisms may offer to our understanding of human behavior, no standardized definitions of defense mechanisms have been universally accepted. Inconsistencies in the definition and conceptualization of defense mechanisms has limited the practical utility of research involving these constructs. In addition, lack of interrater reliability, use of anecdotal evidence, and reliance on self-reports has retarded their investigation. Conducting methodologically rigorous investigations with a psychometrically sound instrument is the first step in addressing some of the issues concerning defense mechanisms and their theoretical postulates. This study was conducted to determine the reliability associated with the Defense-Q, an observer-based Q-sort measure of defense mechanisms. Thirty participants who had undergone an interpersonally stressful interview (the Type A Structured Interview; Rosenman, 1978) were rated by 11 trained coders, both for their use of the 25 defense mechanisms and for their ego strength. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Individual defense mechanisms demonstrated reliability ranging from .28 (undoing) to .92 (humor), with an average reliability of .73. Coder reliability ranged from .63 to .76, with an average of .69. These results indicate that defense mechartisms can be reliably assessed by the Defense-Q. Reliability of the Defense-Q is compared to existing observational measures of defense mechanisms.     

The Effects of Success and Failure on Children's Use of Defense Mechanisms

ABSTRACT The effects of moderate stress on the use of defense mechanisms by 64 second- and sixth-graders were determined The use of denial, projection, and identification was assessed from stones told to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) prior to, and subsequent to, an experimentally controlled experience of success or failure Subjects who experienced failure were more likely to use the lower level defenses of denial and projection, while the experience of success was followed by greater use of identification The results also were consistent with previous studies in demonstrating age and sex differences in the use of defense mechanisms     

Identification and the development of competence: a 44-year longitudinal study from late adolescence to late middle age

The role of defense mechanisms in the development of planful competence (J. A. Clausen, 1993) was studied over a period of 44 years in participants from the Oakland Growth Study, who are part of the Intergenerational Studies of the Institute of Human Development. Planful competence was assessed on 4 occasions, from late adolescence (ages 15-18) to late middle age (age 62). The use of the defense mechanisms of denial, projection, and identification was assessed in late adolescence, based on Thematic Apperception Test (H. A. Murray, 1943) stories coded with the Defense Mechanism Manual (P. Cramer, 1991b). In late adolescence, the defense mechanism of identification was found to be positively related to competence, whereas the less mature defense of projection was related to lower levels of competence. For the group as a whole, hierarchical linear modeling (Bryk & Raudenbush, 1992) indicated that competence increased across the adult years, with a modest decline at late middle age. Individual differences for intraindividual change in competence were related to the use of identification: high use of identification in late adolescence was associated with relative stability in adult competence, whereas low use of identification in adolescence predicted changes in adult competence.     

Anger and the Use of Defense Mechanisms in College Students

ABSTRACT It was hypothesized that experimentally induced anger would result in an increased use of defense mechanisms in college students. As predicted from the theory of defense mechanism development, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories of angered students showed a higher level of use of projection and identification, and the use of these defenses was significantly correlated with the presence of aggressive content in the stories. The results were consistent with previous studies in showing that the predominant defenses of late adolescents are projection and identification, and that men use more projection than women.     

Defense Mechanisms Development in Children,Adolescents, and Late Adolescents

To replicate and extend Cramer's (1987) original cross-sectional study concerning the development of defense mechanisms, the Thematic Apperception Test responses of 148 students in Grades 2, 5, 8, 11, and college freshmen were collected and scored for denial, projection, and identification using Cramer's Defense Mechanisms Manual (1991). Our results supported the notion that the relative use of denial and projection decreases and identification increases as a function of grade level. The findings provide additional support for the psychoanalytic view (Freud, 1966) of an ontogenetic developmental line of defense.     

Defense use and defense understanding in children

This study investigated the relation between children's use of defense mechanisms and their understanding of those defenses. We hypothesized that, once a child understands how a particular defense functions, the use of that defense will no longer be successful and will be replaced by another defense mechanism that is not yet understood. Defense use was assessed from the Thematic Appreception Test (TAT) stories told by 122 children; defense understanding was determined from the children's understanding of stories portraying defenses. The results indicated that younger children (mean age = 7-8) used the defense of denial more than the older children (mean age = 9-11). Older children understood the functioning of denial and projection better than the younger children. A comparison of children who did and did not understand a defense showed that younger children who understood the functioning of denial were less likely to themselves use denial. Likewise, older children who understood the functioning of projection were less likely to use this defense.     

The Ojibwa Vision Quest

Like other Algonkian-speaking groups, the Ojibwa traditionally sought personal relations with guardian spirits whom they encountered in visions, as a rite of passage into status as adults. Visions were sometimes sought as early as age three or four, and were generally accomplished no later than puberty. The procedures for cultivating visions blended practical and ritual elements. The procedures were both explained informally and portrayed in myths and belief-legends. Roheim interpreted vision quests in keeping with Freud's general theory of religion, as evidence of fixated Oedipus complexes; but a pathologizing interpretation is inappropriate. Detailed analyses of both boys' and girls' self-reports readily support diagnoses of healthy genitality, rather than Oedipal fixation. Vision quests are better regarded as manifestations of ego ideals, leading in most cases to improved ego–superego integration.     

Defense mechanisms, behavior, and affect in young adulthood

The relationship between defense mechanism use, observed behavior, and affect was investigated in a sample of 91 young adults. Defense mechanisms were assessed using Cramer's (1991a) Defense Mechanism Manual for TAT stories; behavior was based on observer Q-sort ratings (Block, 1978). The findings show that men and women who rely on the immature defense of denial at age 23 show multiple signs of behavioral immaturity, as well as anxiety. In contrast, extensive use of projection was related to a suspicious, hyperalert personality style, including anxiety and depression, in men, but to a sociable, nonwary, nondepressed style in women. The use of the mature defense of identification, by women, was related to behavior characterized by maturity, social competence, and the absence of depressive symptoms.     

Achievement Place: the reliability of self-reporting and peer-reporting and their effects on behavior

The reliability of the boys reporting their own behavior of their peers was measured in two experiments at Achievement Place, a community based, family style, behavior modification program for delinquents based on a token (point) economy. The results of these experiments indicated that; (a) the boys were not "naturally" reliable observers, (b) the reliability of peer-reporting could be improved by providing training on the behavioral definitions and by making points contingent on agreement between each boy's peer-report and an independent adult observers' report, (c) the reliability of self-reporting could be improved by making points contingent on agreement between the self-report and the trained peer's report, and (d) giving self-reports and peer-reports did not produce a systematic effect on the boys' room-cleaning behavior as measured by an independent observer.     

Impact of a prevention program on aggressive children's friendships and social adjustment

A group of 46 aggressive boys aged 8 to 9 years participated in a prevention program aimed at reducing their externalizing problems in the short term and at preventing delinquency in the long term. Outcome measures were collected during the 3-year period following the prevention program. At that time, the boys were 10, 11, and 12 years old. Outcome measures included teacher ratings of aggressiveness and self-reports of delinquent behaviors. The boys' friends were rated on disruptive behaviors by their classmates. The experimental boys' outcome measures were compared to the measures obtained from 58 aggressive boys in a control group. The disruptive ratings of the experimental and control subjects' best friends were also compared. Differences in teacher-rated aggressiveness between the two groups increased from one year to the next for the 3-year followup period. Similarly, the friends' disruptive scores differed increasingly between the two groups over the 3-year period. The effect of the prevention program on the subjects' friendships and the mediating impact of friends with regard to social adjustment were stressed.This study was funded by the following agencies: National Welfare Grants Program of the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare, Conseil Québécois de la Recherche Sociale, Conseil de la Santé et des Services Sociaux Régional du Montréal Métropolitain, Fondation Cité des Prairies, Fonds FCAR-Centre et Equipes, Institut de la Recherche en Psycho-Education de Montréal, Centre d'Accueil le Mainbourg. Lucie Bertrand, Rita Béland, Michel Bouillon, Raymond Labelle, Hélène O'Reilly, and Daniel Reclus-Prince supervised or administered the intervention.     

What they want and what they get: The social goals of boys with ADHD and comparison boys

Twenty-seven boys diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 18 comparison boys participated in a competitive tetradic interaction task. Boys were individually interviewed before the game about their goals for the interaction, and adult observers inferred boys' social goals from videotapes of the interaction. Social acceptance was determined by combining positive and negative sociometric nominations collected through individual interviews at the end of the summer research program in which the interaction was held. In their self-reports, ADHD-high aggressive boys prioritized trouble-seeking and fun at the expense of rules to a greater extent than did both ADHD-low aggressive and comparison boys. Observers judged ADHD-high-aggressive boys to seek attention more strongly and seek fairness less strongly than the other two groups. Self-reported goals of defiance and cooperation predicted boys' end-of-program social standing, even with interactional behaviors and subgroup status controlled statistically. Observer-inferred goals were differentially associated with social acceptance for ADHD and comparison boys, suggesting discontinuities in peer interaction processes. Differentiation of goals from behavior and the integral role of children's goals in peer acceptance are discussed.This research received primary support from National Institute of Mental Health Grant RO1 MH45064, awarded to Stephen P. Hinshaw. Special acknowledgments are due to the child participants and the many dedicated interviewers and behavior observers who made this study possible.     

The best friendships of aggressive boys: relationship quality, conflict management, and rule-breaking behavior

The current study examined the best friendships of aggressive and nonaggressive boys (N = 96 boys, 48 dyads, mean age = 10.6 years). Friends completed self-report measures of friendship quality, and their interactions were observed in situations that required conflict management and provided opportunities for rule-breaking behavior. Although there were no differences in boys' self-reports of friendship quality, observers rated nonaggressive boys and their friends as showing greater positive engagement, on-task behavior, and reciprocity in their interactions compared with aggressive boys and their friends. Aggressive boys and their friends provided more enticement for rule violations and engaged in more rule-breaking behavior than did nonaggressive boys and their friends. Also, the intensity of negative affect in observed conflicts between aggressive boys and their friends was greater than that between nonaggressive boys and their friends. The findings suggest that friendships may provide different developmental contexts for aggressive and nonaggressive boys.     

Introduction to object relations group psychotherapy.

The author shows how object relations group therapy focuses on primitive defense mechanisms that shape the group-entity image or "basic assumptions group." Such primitive defense mechanisms as splitting, projective identification, omnipotent denial, projection, and introjection are the mental resources to protect the endangered self and the threatened objects from the fantasized imminent destruction. Object relations group psychotherapy addresses those defenses and the underlying psychotic anxieties, offering members opportunities to search for other ways to respond to their primitive fears. The author introduces two extensive clinical vignettes to illustrate how object relations group methods are different from other group-centered psychoanalytic techniques. He concludes by commenting on future theoretical refinements and on the problems in the professional practice of this modality.     

The Patient-Staff Community Meeting: A Tea Party with the Mad Hatter

The author shows how object relations group therapy focuses on primitive defense mechanisms that shape the group-entity image or “basic assumptions group.” Such primitive defense mechanisms as splitting, projective identification, omnipotent denial, projection, and introjection are the mental resources to protect the endangered self and the threatened objects from the fantasized imminent destruction. Object relations group psychotherapy addresses those defenses and the underlying psychotic anxieties, offering members opportunities to search for other ways to respond to their primitive fears. The author introduces two extensive clinical vignettes to illustrate how object relations group methods are different from other group-centered psychoanalytic techniques. He concludes by commenting on future theoretical refinements and on the problems in the professional practice of this modality.     

Attributional Style and Psychodynamic Defense Mechanisms: Toward an Integrative Model of Depression

The present study examined the influences of cognitive style and psychodynamic defense mechanisms in accounting for levels of dysphoria. Measures of dysphoria, defense mechanisms, and attributional style were completed by 147 undergraduate students. Consistent with the hypothesis, both attributional style and principalization were independently associated with dysphoria. Moreover, principalization moderated the influence of attributional style on levels of dysphoria. In addition, attributional style and turning against self were independently associated with dysphoria. Turning against other, projection, and reversal were not associated with dysphoria. The results provide partial support for the notion that the applicability and validity of the hopelessness theory of depression are bolstered by a consideration of psychodynamic phenomena. Potential implications of this line of research for the movement toward psychotherapy integration are discussed.