Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2025

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
Relationship between psychodynamic functioning, defensive mechanisms, and trauma in patients with post-traumatic
Taís Cristina Favaretto1, Luciane Maria Both1, Silvia Pereira da Cruz Benetti2
1Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psiquiatria e Ciências do Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Objectives:
Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) present a variety of symptoms, with different intensities, causing impairment in individual, social, and occupational functioning. The aim of this study was to understand the psychodynamic functioning of patients with PTSD, exploring relationships between symptom severity, quality of life, subjective suffering, conflicts, and psychic structure and sociodemographic characteristics, styles, and defensive mechanisms.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional quantitative study with 60 participants. The following instruments were used: a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis-2 (OPD-2), and the Defensive Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40).
Results:
Participants had moderate to high symptom severity, with significant subjective suffering and isolation. The main conflict was need for care vs. self-sufficiency and the level of total structure was moderate/low. Use of immature, neurotic, and mature defensive styles was observed. More primitive personality structures, more rigid defenses, and greater dependence were found in patients with history of past trauma. Other mental disorders were also associated.
Conclusion:
The OPD-2 was effective for assessment of the psychodynamic functioning characteristics of patients with PTSD. Therapeutic treatment should focus on the psychic structure and not only on symptom control. Prevention strategies should target vulnerability factors while strengthening protective factors.
More Related Videos
10:43Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity
Published on: July 1, 2014
08:29Biomarkers in an Animal Model for Revealing Neural, Hematologic, and Behavioral Correlates of PTSD
Published on: October 10, 2012
Related Concept Videos
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Symptoms and Behavioral Manifestations
A spectrum of distressing symptoms characterizes PTSD. Recurrent flashbacks, where individuals involuntarily relive traumatic events,...
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic Perspectives on Personality
Psychodynamic theorists argue that unconscious...
Repressed Memory
Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative Fugue
A hallmark feature of dissociative disorders is the dissociative fugue...
Traumatic Memory