Ego Defense Mechanisms of Greek Social Work Students

Defense mechanisms are unconscious mental processes employed as defensive strategies in the service of the ego, constituting their field of action. They alleviate intrapsychic conflicts and anxieties within the ego enabling its liberation. Social work students perform tasks within demanding, adverse, and conflicting situations and are often overwhelmed by difficult emotions affecting their psychological adjustment. Recognizing and adopting mature mechanisms can support and provide intrapsychic functioning with strength and equilibrium. This study highlights the defense mechanisms "detected" in social work students, concerning psychopathology, before entering the professional world. The sample consisted of 361 undergraduate students with a mean age of 21.7 years. 60.9% of the sample were students in their first or second year of studies, while 39% included third or fourth year students. Students completed a demographic data questionnaire, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, and the Defense Style Questionnaire. Significant positive correlation was observed between all SCL-90-R dimensions and maladaptive action, distorting of self or others' image, and self-sacrificing. The adaptive subscale was positively correlated only with anxiety and paranoid ideation. SCL-90-R dimensions were predictive of self-sacrificing. Students who grew up in urban areas scored lower on maladaptive and self-sacrificing styles. Third and fourth-year students scored higher on self-sacrifice, with the educational level of their parents being an important factor. The defense mechanisms study provides important insight into a person's personality and mental functioning. Preparing social work students involves, on behalf of the teaching staff, vigilance and care in terms of psychological vulnerabilities and maladjustments, and therefore the incorporation in the curriculum of courses and institutional practices enhancing mental empowerment and psychological adjustment.