Ego defense mechanisms in Pakistani medical students: a cross sectional analysis

Maria A Parekh,Anum B Khan,Hina Majeed,Nadia M Khwaja,Salman Khalid,Imtiaz Jehan,Roha Khalid,Mohammad A Khan,Tuba R Khan,Ibrahim M Rizqui

doi:10.1186/1471-244x-10-12

Abstract

BackgroundEgo defense mechanisms (or factors), defined by Freud as unconscious resources used by the ego to reduce conflict between the id and superego, are a reflection of how an individual deals with conflict and stress. This study assesses the prevalence of various ego defense mechanisms employed by medical students of Karachi, which is a group with higher stress levels than the general population.MethodsA questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted on 682 students from five major medical colleges of Karachi over 4 weeks in November 2006. Ego defense mechanisms were assessed using the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40) individually and as grouped under Mature, Immature, and Neurotic factors.ResultsLower mean scores of Immature defense mechanisms (4.78) were identified than those for Neurotic (5.62) and Mature (5.60) mechanisms among medical students of Karachi. Immature mechanisms were more commonly employed by males whereas females employed more Neurotic mechanisms than males. Neurotic and Immature defenses were significantly more prevalent in first and second year students. Mature mechanisms were significantly higher in students enrolled in Government colleges than Private institutions (p < 0.05).ConclusionsImmature defense mechanisms were less commonly employed than Neurotic and Mature mechanisms among medical students of Karachi. The greater employment of Neurotic defenses may reflect greater stress levels than the general population. Employment of these mechanisms was associated with female gender, enrollment in a private medical college, and students enrolled in the first 2 years of medical school.

Highlights

Ego defense mechanisms, defined by Freud as unconscious resources used by the ego to reduce conflict between the id and superego, are a reflection of how an individual deals with conflict and stress
They provide a reflection of how an individual deals with conflict and stress, and have been turned into the first psychoanalytical concept recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-IV as axes for future studies [2]
Anticipation (6.56 vs 6.01; p < 0.05) and Rationalization (6.54 vs 6.25; p < 0.05) were more common amongst students of government colleges while a larger proportion of students enrolled in private institutions employed Devaluation (3.87 vs 3.47; p < 0.05) and Displacement (4.15 vs 3.81; p < 0.05) defense mechanisms. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind from Pakistan investigating the prevalence of ego defense mechanisms employed by medical students

Summary

Introduction

Ego defense mechanisms (or factors), defined by Freud as unconscious resources used by the ego to reduce conflict between the id and superego, are a reflection of how an individual deals with conflict and stress. Ego defense mechanisms (or factors) were defined for the first time by Sigmund Freud as unconscious resources used by the ego to reduce the conflict between the id and the superego [1]. They provide a reflection of how an individual deals with conflict and stress, and have been turned into the first psychoanalytical concept recognized by the DSM-IV as axes for future studies [2]. Their findings have been remarkably consistent in supporting the hierarchy of defenses, suggesting that instruments which could readily yield an accurate assessment of defensive functioning would prove clinically useful in identifying characteristic personality traits

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion