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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1465164
This article is part of the Research Topic Psychological Factors as Determinants of Medical Conditions, Volume III View all articles

Defense Mechanisms in Individuals With Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms: A Network Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Mariagrazia Di Giuseppe Mariagrazia Di Giuseppe 1Gabriele Lo Buglio Gabriele Lo Buglio 2*Erika Cerasti Erika Cerasti 2Tommaso Boldrini Tommaso Boldrini 3Ciro Conversano Ciro Conversano 4Vittorio Lingiardi Vittorio Lingiardi 2Annalisa Tanzilli Annalisa Tanzilli 2
  • 1 University of Rome Tor Vergata, Roma, Lazio, Italy
  • 2 Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 3 Pegaso University, Naples, Campania, Italy
  • 4 University of Pisa, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Defense mechanisms play a crucial role in depression and anxiety. The current study aimed at estimating the network structure of defense mechanisms in individuals with symptoms of depression and anxiety to understand the most central defenses and relevant connections. Moreover, we aimed at examining the associations between defense mechanisms and symptoms. Methods: We employed the Symptom Checklist-90 to recruit 655 individuals with depressive and anxiety symptoms during the first wave of the COVID-2019 Pandemic in Italy. Defense mechanisms were assessed with the DMRS-SR-30. Results: Results showed a main component in the network graph featuring 16 defense mechanisms.Self-assertion was the most central node in the network, displaying positive and negative connections with an array of mature and immature defenses, respectively. Among immature defenses, passive aggression was the most interconnected node. Some mature defenses (i.e., humor, affiliation, and sublimation) were not connected to other nodes. A range of defense mechanisms were associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms.Conclusions: This is the first research effort supporting the conceptualization of defense mechanisms as a complex system. Results suggest that defense mechanisms of the same cluster (e.g., mature defenses) play different roles in the network. Central defenses (i.e., self-assertion and passive aggression) detected in this study may be promising intervention targets.

    Keywords: Defense Mechanisms, DMRS-SR-30, Depression, Anxiety, Network analysis, COVID-19

    Received: 15 Jul 2024; Accepted: 25 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Di Giuseppe, Lo Buglio, Cerasti, Boldrini, Conversano, Lingiardi and Tanzilli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gabriele Lo Buglio, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, 00185, Lazio, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.