Abstract
The aim of the present study was to determine the construct validity of the immature defense style factor on the 40-item DSQ (DSQ-40; Andrews, Pollock, and Stewart 1989) by comparing it to measures evaluating bodily and psychic preoccupation. Specifically, immature defense style was compared to measures of somatization, alexithymia, and cognitive complaints. The DSQ-40 is a widely used self-report measure of defense mechanisms, which make up three factors: immature, neurotic, and mature defense styles. Although many studies have evaluated the ability of the DSQ to distinguish among psychopathological populations, few have examined how well any of the defense styles correlate to other cognitive and affective attributes.
The DSQ was created by Bond, Gardner, Christian, and Sigal (1983) to capture the conscious aspects of self-reported defense mechanisms and to measure a person’s defense style. Items on the DSQ are intended to measure various defense mechanisms, which would provide information about that person’s stage of development and ego functioning (Bond 1992). Factor analysis of the DSQ revealed four defense styles, the first of which, maladaptive action patterns, is the most similar to the immature defense style of the later DSQ-40; this style reflects an inability to deal with one’s impulses constructively (Bond et al. 1983; Bond 1992).
Andrews, Pollock, and Stewart (1989) revised the DSQ, consolidating and relabeling items to be consistent with the Draft Glossary of Defense Mechanisms developed for DSM-III-R (Vaillant 1986). Factor analysis of the new 72-item questionnaire (DSQ-72) found three factors, which were labeled “immature,” “neurotic,” and “mature.” These three new factors did not directly correspond to the four factors of the original DSQ; however, these defense styles generally corresponded to the immature, neurotic, and mature defenses in Vaillant’s Glossary of Defenses (1992), although the defense mechanisms that comprised the defense styles were not identical with Vaillant’s. Vaillant described immature defenses as socially undesirable, used by adults with personality disorders or psychopathology to avoid interpersonal intimacy or to protect oneself from the loss of such intimacy. Andrews, Singh, and Bond (1993) later adapted the DSQ-72 into the 40-item DSQ-40, which measured the same three defense styles as the DSQ-72.
Although the construct validity of immature defense style has been extensively evaluated with regard to how it relates to psychopathology, few studies, if any, have compared immature defense style to other cognitive and affective attributes. The present study tested the construct validity of the DSQ-40 by comparing immature defense style to somatization, alexithymia, and cognitive complaints. It is hypothesized that these bodily and psychic preoccupations are present to a greater degree in people evincing an immature defense style. We hypothesized that immature defense style, after controlling for gender and age, would have (1) a strong positive relationship with reports of somatic complaints, (2) a strong positive relationship with alexithymia, and (3) a strong positive relationship with reports of cognitive complaints.
Participants
Participants were 272 individuals who self-referred for neuropsychological testing based on complaints of cognitive difficulties. Participants were tested at the Adult LD/ADHD Program at a psychological service center at a private university in the northeast U.S. Participants completed comprehensive psychological and neuropsychological test batteries, which included the measures listed below. Measures were administered by graduate students in a clinical psychology Ph.D. program supervised by a licensed clinician. Demographic statistics for the sample are presented in Table 1.
Demographic statistics
Measures
Defense Style Questionnaire
The 40-item Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40; Andrews, Singh, and Bond 1993) is a self-report inventory of 20 defense mechanisms, categorized into mature, neurotic, and immature defense styles. Each item is a statement that represents an observable manifestation of a particular defense mechanism (e.g., “I get physically ill when things aren’t going well for me”). Participants are asked to rank the extent to which they agree with each statement on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 9 (Strongly agree). The immature defense style subscale demonstrated good internal consistency in our sample, with Cronbach’s α of .82. The DSQ-40 has demonstrated good construct validity in discriminating among different psychopathological populations and normal controls (e.g., Andrews, Singh, and Bond 1993).
Symptom Checklist-90-Revised
The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis 1994) is a 90-item self-report questionnaire that measures the degree to which a participant is experiencing the symptoms comprised by a major psychiatric illness. Participants are asked to rank the degree to which a symptom has been present in the past seven days on a Likert scale ranging from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Extremely). The SCL-90-R somatization scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency in our sample, with Cronbach’s α of .96. The somatization scale (SOM) of the SCL-90-R demonstrated good convergent validity, correlating moderately to strongly with several other scales related to somatic complaints (Derogatis 1994).
Toronto Alexithymia Scale
The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; Bagby, Taylor, and Parker 1994a) is a 20-item self-report scale that assesses three dimensions of alexithymia: difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking. Participants are asked to rank the extent to which they agree with self-statements on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). The measure demonstrated good internal consistency in our sample, with Cronbach’s α of .86. The scale has displayed good convergent and discriminant validity in samples of university students by correlating with other measures of personality and psychological mindedness (Bagby, Taylor, and Parker 1994b).
Cognitive Failures Questionnaire
The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ; Broadbent et al. 1982) is a 25-item self-report measure that assesses perceptual, action, and memory failures when completing everyday tasks in the past six months. Participants rank how often they experience the stated cognitive failures on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (Never) to 4 (Very often). The measure demonstrated excellent internal consistency in our sample, with Cronbach’s α of .94. The CFQ has demonstrated predictive validity; several studies have demonstrated that people who scored higher on the CFQ at baseline reported more psychological strain after experiencing stress (Broadbent et al. 1982; Bridger, Johnsen, and Brasher 2013).
Procedure
Participants completed the SCL-90-R as part of their testing battery. They filled out the questionnaire at the psychological service center under the supervision of the clinical psychology doctoral student. Participants completed the DSQ-40, the TAS-20, and the CFQ as part of a research study that involved completing a take-home questionnaire packet at the time of testing. Participants all completed the DSQ, and at least 90% completed two of the three other questionnaires. No incentive was offered for participation.
Results
All results are presented in Table 2.
Primary analysis using multiple linear regression
Note: DSQ = Defense Style Questionnaire. SCL-90-R SOM = Symptom Checklist 90–Revised Somatization Scale. TAS-20 = Toronto Alexithymia Scale. CFQ = Cognitive Failures Questionnaire.
p < .05
Hypothesis 1
Multiple regression confirmed the hypothesis that, after controlling for gender and age, self-reports of somatization symptoms were positively related to immature defense style (Standardized B = .13). Gender was also significantly associated with immature defense style, with men reporting greater use of immature defenses than women (gender was significantly associated with immature defenses in the same direction for Hypotheses 2 and 3, as well). Age was not related to immature defense style.
Hypothesis 2
Multiple regression confirmed our hypothesis that, after controlling for gender and age, self-reported alexithymia had a positive association with immature defense style (Standardized B = .33). As before, gender was also related to immature defense style, and age had no significant effect on immature defense style.
Hypothesis 3
Multiple regression confirmed our hypothesis that cognitive complaints were strongly and positively related to immature defense style after controlling for gender and age (Standardized B = .55). As before, gender, but not age, was significantly associated with immature defense style.
Discussion
In the present study, we sought to investigate the construct validity of the immature defense style factor of the DSQ-40 by comparing it with measures of bodily and psychic preoccupations. DSQ-40 immature defense style was compared to the constructs of somatization, alexithymia, and cognitive complaints. We found that immature defense style was positively related to bodily and psychic preoccupations, specifically somatization, alexithymia, and cognitive complaints. Gender was also significantly related to immature defense style, with men using more immature defenses than women.
The results of this study contribute to the construct validity of the DSQ-40 immature defense style. Based on the theoretical understanding of immature defenses, people who use immature defenses were hypothesized to also experience more bodily and psychic complaints. The results of this study indicate that our current understanding of immature defenses, so far as they relate to somatization, alexithymia, and cognitive complaints, is accurate and that the DSQ-40 adequately captures this element of immature defense style. This study is among the first to evaluate the construct validity of immature defense style with regard to personality attributes and, as such, is an important step in understanding how defense styles are used in everyday life.