Defense mechanism is predicted by attachment and mediates the maladaptive influence of insecure attachment on adolescent mental health

Clarissa Laczkovics,Brianna Bendixsen,Hans Steiner,Antonio Prunas,Ihno Lee,Emmanuel Shpigel,James Gross,Gregory Fonzo,Julia Huemer,Katrin Skala

doi:10.1007/s12144-018-9839-1

Clarissa Laczkovics, Brianna Bendixsen + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9839-1

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Abstract

There is limited research exploring attachment style and defenses in adolescents. The purpose of the current research is to explore the relationship between adolescent attachment style and development of defense mechanisms, as well as attachment style and problem behaviors. A total of 1487 students from two California high-schools completed three self-report questionnaires to establish defense mechanisms, psychiatric symptoms, and attachment style. Attachment styles characterized by a positive self-image predict greater levels of mature defense mechanisms, and lower levels of immature defense mechanisms, both in the interpersonal and intrapsychic domains. Relationships between insecure attachment styles and psychopathology were mediated by greater levels of immature defense mechanisms. These results provide initial compelling evidence that: a) attachment style is an important determinant of the type of defense mechanisms utilized by the individual to maintain psychological stability; and b) defense mechanisms serve to transmit the detrimental effects of insecure attachment style on psychological health.

Highlights

Defense mechanisms function at an unconscious level to prevent conflicts and accompanied anxiety from entering awareness (Vaillant 1994)
Factor 1 and Factor 2 are each sub-categorized into intrapsychic defenses, which are internally focused, and interpersonal defenses, which manifest in the context of relating to others (Steiner et al 2001)
This study presents the first pieces of evidence that attachment style influences the predominant expression of defense mechanisms, and these defense mechanisms serve to mediate the association between insecure attachment styles and psychopathology

Summary

Introduction

Defense mechanisms function at an unconscious level to prevent conflicts and accompanied anxiety from entering awareness (Vaillant 1994). A vast majority of the literature distinguishes between mature, neurotic and immature defense mechanisms, but there is an ongoing debate about how to best categorize and label them. Aligned with Vaillant’s original model of immature versus mature defenses, the REM-71 is a self-report instrument which has good psychometric properties (Araujo et al 2006; Steiner et al 2001) that organizes defenses into two categories: Factor 1 defenses (assimilation) and Factor 2 defenses (accommodation) (Prunas et al 2014). Assimilation and accommodation are less ambiguous labels, as Bmaturity^ can refer either to a developmental construct or adaptive efficacy.

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