Self-rated defense style, life stress, and health status: an empirical assessment

The authors compared the 14-defense and 20-defense versions of the self-report Bond Defense Style Questionnaire in a nonclinical sample of adults. Factor analyses of both versions yielded a stable factor representing immature defenses, while factors representing image-distorting, neurotic, and mature defenses were less stable. In correlational analyses, immature defenses were highly associated with higher reported levels of life stress, physical illness, and affective symptoms. Methodological issues and the possible implications of these findings are presented. The Bond questionnaire appears to be an additional helpful tool in consultation-liaison psychiatry for identifying poor copers at high risk for distress.