Examination of the Role of Defense Mechanisms and Attachment Styles in Personality Disorder Beliefs among Nonclinical and Clinical Samples

Abstract

Attachment styles, defense mechanisms, and the underlying personality disorders’ personality beliefs are considered to be closely related to psychopathology. The aim of this study is to compare the scores of attachment styles, defense mechanisms, and personality beliefs variables in a non-clinical group and a clinical group diagnosed with depression, obsessive-compulsive, and anxiety disorder and to examine the relationships between these variables. A total of 178 participated in the study, 59 of which were in the clinical group and 119 in the nonclinical group. The Personality Belief Questionnaire-Short Form (PBQ-SF), The Defense Style Questionnaire-40 (DSQ-40), and Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ) were applied to the participants. Avoidant, dependent, passive-aggressive, obsessive-compulsive (OC), antisocial, schizoid, paranoid, and borderline personality belief scores were found to be higher in the clinical group, while mature defense scores were significantly higher in the nonclinical group. On the other hand, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of attachment styles. According to multiple linear regression analysis results, attachment styles and defense mechanisms predicted personality disorder beliefs in the range of 19.5% to 33.5% for the clinical group and 22.7% to 46.9% for the nonclinical group. In conclusion, the findings suggest that attachment styles and defense mechanisms may contribute to the understanding of the etiological causes of personality disorders and may be helpful in the treatment of personality disorders.

Keywords

• Personality disorder beliefs
• attachment styles
• defenses mechanisms

Kişilik Bozukluğu İnançlarında Savunma Mekanizmaları ve Bağlanma Biçimlerinin Rolünün Klinik ve Klinik Olmayan Örneklemlerde Incelenmesi

Öz

Bağlanma stilleri, savunma mekanizmaları ve kişilik bozukluklarının temelinde yatan kişilik inançlarının psikopatoloji ile yakından ilişkili olduğu düşünülmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, depresyon, obsesif-kompulsif ve anksiyete bozukluğu tanısı almış bir klinik grup ve klinik olmayan bir grupta bağlanma stilleri, savunma mekanizmaları ve kişilik inançları değişkenleri puanlarının karşılaştırılması ve bu değişkenler arasındaki ilişkilerin incelenmesidir. Çalışmaya 59'u klinik gruptan, 119'u klinik olmayan gruptan olmak üzere toplam 178 kişi katılmıştır. Katılımcılara Kişilik İnanç Ölçeği-Kısa Form (KİÖ-KF), Savunma Biçimleri Testi-40 (SBT-40) ve İlişki Ölçekleri Anketi (İÖA) uygulanmıştır. Kaçıngan, bağımlı, pasif-agresif, obsesif-kompulsif (OK), antisosyal, şizoid, paranoid ve borderline kişilik inanç puanları klinik grupta anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek bulunmuşken olgun savunma puanlarının ise normal grupta anlamlı düzeyde yüksek olduğu görülmüştür. Öte yandan bağlanma stillerine göre iki grup arasında fark bulunmamıştır. Çoklu doğrusal regresyon analizi sonuçlarına göre bağlanma stilleri ve savunma mekanizmaları klinik grup için kişilik bozukluğu inançlarını %19,5 ila %33,5 ve klinik olmayan grup için %22,7 ila %46,9 aralığında yordamıştır. Sonuç olarak bulgular, bağlanma stillerinin ve savunma mekanizmalarının kişilik bozukluklarının etiyolojik nedenlerinin anlaşılmasına katkıda bulunabileceğini ve kişilik bozukluklarının tedavi süreçlerinde yardımcı olabileceğini düşündürmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Kişilik bozukluğu inançları,
• savunma mekanizmaları,
• bağlanma stilleri

Kaynakça

1. Andrews G, Singh M, Bond M. (1993) The Defense Style Questionnaire. Journal of Nervous and mental Disease 181 (4):246-56.
2. Beck AT, Davis DD, Freeman A. (2015) Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders. Third Edition. New York: Guilford Publications.
3. Beckwith H, Moran PF, Reilly J. (2014) Personality disorder prevalence in psychiatric outpatients: a systematic literature review. Personality and mental health 8(2), 91-101.
4. Bilge Y. (2018) Kişilik bozuklukları ve savunma mekanizmaları. Electronic Turkish Studies 13(10), 145-167.
5. Bilge Y, Bilge Y. (2019) A Study on The Validity and Reliability of The Personality Belief Questionnaire-Short Form in Turkish Community Sample. Journal of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy and Research. JCBPR 8(1): 7-15.
6. Blaya C, Dornelles M, Blaya R, Kipper L, Heldt E, Isolan L, Manfro GG. (2006) Do defense mechanisms vary according to the psychiatric disorder? Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry 28(3), 179-183.
7. Bowlby J. (1973) Attachment and loss. Vol. 2, Separation: Anxiety and anger. Penguin: Harmonsworth.
8. Bowlby J. (1988) Developmental psychiatry comes of age. American Journal of Psychiatry 145, 1-10.

9. Brennan KA, Shaver PR. (1998) Attachment styles and personality disorders: Their connections to each other and to parental divorce, parental death, and perceptions of parental caregiving. Journal of Personality 66(5), 835-878.
10. Butler AC, Brown GK, Beck AT, Grisham JR. (2002) Assessment of dysfunctional beliefs in borderline personality disorder. Behaviour research and therapy 40(10), 1231-1240.
11. Butler AC, Beck AT, Cohen LH. (2007) The personality belief questionnaire-short form: Development and preliminary findings. Cognitive Therapy Research 31(3), 357-370.
12. Carlier IVE, Colijn S, Van Rood YR, Streevelaar MF, Van Vliet IM, Van Veen T. (2014) A comparative analysis of personality pathology profiles among patients with pure depressive-, pure anxiety-, and pure somatoform disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders 168, 322–330.
13. Ciocca G, Tuziak B, Limoncin E, Mollaioli D, Capuano N, Martini A, Siracusano A. (2015) Psychoticism, immature defense mechanisms and a fearful attachment style are associated with a higher homophobic attitude. The journal of sexual medicine 12(9), 1953-1960.
14. Collins NL, Read SJ, Bartholomew K, Perlman D. (1994) Attachment processes in adulthood. Advances in personal relationships 5, 53-90. London, England: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
15. Eng W, Heimberg RG, Hart TA, Schneier FR, Liebowitz MR. (2001) Attachment in individuals with social anxiety disorder: the relationship among adult attachment styles, social anxiety, and depression. Emotion 1(4), 365-380.
16. Griffin D, Bartholomew K. (1994) Models of the self and other: Fundamental dimensions underlying measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67(3), 430-445.
17. Kennedy BL, Schwab JJ, Hyde JA. (2001) Defense styles and personality dimensions of research subjects with anxiety and depressive disorders. Psychiatric Quarterly 72(3), 251-262.
18. Laconi S, Vigouroux M, Lafuente C, Chabrol H. (2017) Problematic internet use, psychopathology, personality, defense and coping. Computers in Human Behavior 73, 47-54.
19. Latas M, Milovanovic S. (2014) Personality disorders and anxiety disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 27(1), 57–61.
20. Levy KN, Johnson BN, Clouthier TL, Scala JW, Temes CM. (2015) An attachment theoretical framework for personality disorders. Canadian Psychology/ Psychologie Canadienne 56(2), 197–207.
21. Main M, Kaplan N, Cassidy J. (1985) Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. İçinde I. Bretherton, E. Waters (Eds.) Monographs of the society for research in child development. 50 (1-2, Serial No. 209, pp.66-106).
22. McMahon C, Barnett B, Kowalenko N, Tennant C. (2005) Psychological factors associated with persistent postnatal depression: past and current relationships, defence styles and the mediating role of insecure attachment style. Journal of affective disorders 84(1), 15-24.
23. Meyer B, Pilkonis PA, Proietti JM, Heape CL, Egan M. (2001) Attachment Styles and Personality Disorders as Predictors of Symptom Course. Journal of Personality Disorders 15, (5), 371-389.
24. Mikulincer M, Shaver PR. (2007) Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change. NY: Guilford Press.
25. Newton-Howes G, Tyrer P, Anagnostakis K, Cooper S, Bowden-Jones O, Weaver T, COSMIC study team. (2010) The prevalence of personality disorder, its comorbidity with mental state disorders, and its clinical significance in community mental health teams. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology 45(4), 453–460.
26. Perry JC, Presniak MD, Olson TR. (2013) Defense mechanisms in schizotypal, borderline, antisocial, and narcissistic personality disorders. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes 76 (1), 32-52.
27. Sammallahti P, Aalberg V. (1995) Defense style in personality disorders: An empirical study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 183-516-521.
28. Sümer N, Ünal S, Selçuk E, Kaya B, Polat R, Çekem B. (2009) Bağlanma ve psikopatoloji: Bağlanma boyutlarının depresyon, panik bozukluk ve obsesif-kompulsif bozuklukla ilişkisi. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi 24(63), 38-45.
29. Taymur İ, Türkçapar MH, Örsel S, Sargın E, Akkoyunlu S. (2011) Kişilik İnanç Ölçeği-Kısa Formunun (KİÖ-KF) Türkçe Çevirisinin Üniversite Öğrencilerinde Geçerlilik, Güvenirliği. Klinik Psikiyatri 14:199-209.
30. Thamby A, Khanna S. (2019) The role of personality disorders in obsessive- compulsive disorder. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 61(7), 114-121.
31. Vaillant GE. (1994) Ego mechanisms of defense and personality psychopathology. Journal of abnormal psychology 103 (1), 44-50.
32. Vatan S. (2016) Obsesif compulsive bozuklukta bağlanma, obsesif inançlar ve duygu düzenleme zorlukları: Klinik ve klinik olmayan örneklem karşılaştırması. Nesne Dergisi (4(7), 41-57.
33. Widiger TA, Frances A. (1985) The DSM-III Personality Disorders: Perspectives From Psychology. Archives of General Psychiatry 42(6), 615–623.