Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the interrelations between state-trait anxiety and defensive style in psychiatric out-patients and normal controls.
Methods: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Ehwa Diagnostic Test of Defence Mechanism were performed in 67 psychiatric out-patients (psychotics : 35, neurotics :32) and 66 normal controls.
Anxiety was subdivided into state anxiety and trait anxiety. Defence mechanisms were grouped into narcissistic defence, immature defence, neurotic defence, and mature defence according to maturational hierarchy as suggested by Vaillant.
The scores for anxieties and defensive styles were compared between normal controls and patient group.
Results: Both state anxiety and trait anxiety were significantly higher in patient goup. Narcissistic defensive style was significantly higher in patient group, but another defensive styles were not significantly different between patient
group
and normal control group.
In normal controls ; positive correlation were found between anxiety (both state anxiety and trait anxiety) and immature defensive style, but negative correlation was found between anxiety (both state anxiety and trait anxiety) and mature
defensive
style.
In patient group; State anxiety was positively correlated with narcissistic defensive style and immature defensive style, but negatively correlated with mature defensive style. Trait anxiety was positively correlated with narcissistic defensive
style,
immature defensive style, and neurotic defensive style, but shows no significant correlations with mature defensive style.
Conclusion: These results suggest that anxieties (state and trait) are playing a certain role in terms of defensive style in both normal control group and patient group.
Comparing two groups, it is seems that hierarchically more pathological defensive style (narcissistic defensive style) is positively correlated with both state and trait anxiety in patient group than in normal control group. Mature defensive
style
is
negatively correlated with both state anxiety and trait anxiety in both group except that with trait anxiety in patient group. The finding that trait anxiety is not negatively correlated with mature defensive style in patient group remains to be
proved
in future study.
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