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Defense styles in eating disorders
Author(s) -
Steiner Hans
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/1098-108x(199003)9:2<141::aid-eat2260090203>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - psychopathology , psychology , depression (economics) , eating disorders , style (visual arts) , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , history , archaeology , economics , macroeconomics
Forty‐nine adolescent anorexic patients [24 restricters (AN‐R) and 25 bulimic (AN‐B) subtype], 23 normal‐weight bulimics (NWB), and 29 depressed adolescents (DEP) were compared with 25 normal adolescent (NADOL) and 25 normal adults (NAD) regarding self‐reported defense styles. The groups were matched for sex, SES distribution, and age with the exception of the adults. Hypothesized differences were found between groups on immature and mature defense styles compatible with a moderate degree of psychopathology in eating disorders (EDO): AN‐R and AN‐B were significantly more immature than NADOL but less so than NWB and DEP. Low emphasis on mature defense style distinguished the DEP group from the others. Post hoc analyses showed that presence of DSM‐III depression or moderate to severe degree of depression (by BDI) across diagnostic groups is associated with low emphasis on mature defense style. Length of illness bore no relationship to either defense style or depression. Analyses by age and defense style within groups suggests a lack of age‐related shifts of immature defense styles in DEP and EDO compared with NADOL, compatible with a developmental arrest model in NWB and DEP and a developmental regression model in AN‐B and AN‐R.