Goal: The aim of the current studies was to evaluate the ability of individual defenses to differentiate Antisocial (APD) and Borderline (BPD) personalities. Because multiple defense measures were utilized, Study 1 was dedicated to evaluating the convergent validity between the measures used: Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ), Defense-Q, and Defense Mechanism Manual (DMM). Studies 2, 3, and 4, then evaluated the ability of the defenses to differentiate APD and BPD groups. Method: In Study 1, participants completed all defense measures and correlations were conducted between the individual defenses. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, groups of nonclinical participants were divided into APD and BPD groups based on scores from the Personality Assessment Inventory. They also completed the DSQ (Studies 2, 3, & 4), the Defense-Q (Study 3), and/or the DMM (Study 4).The groups were then examined for differences on defenses using MANOVA and DFA analyses. Results: Results from Study 1 revealed no significant correlations between the measures for any of the individual defenses. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, DSQ and Defense-Q results revealed that defenses were able to differentiate the APD and BPD groups, but the DMM results did not replicate these findings. Univariate analyses showed that many defenses differed between the groups (e.g., Acting Out, Denial, and Turning Against Self), while others showed no differences (e.g., Idealization). Conclusion: The results were discussed in relation to previous theory and research. The findings provided support for many theoretical expectations. For example, the results supported: Kernberg (1984) who posited both groups would use primitive defenses (e.g., Splitting, Denial); Perry and Cooper (1986) who posited BPD groups would internalize negative views towards the self; and Gacono and Meloy (1988) who believed Denial was characteristic of APD. Overall, the results suggested that APD and BPD groups demonstrated differences in defense use.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-08222008-095540 |
| Date | 03 September 2008 |
| Creators | Presniak, Michelle D |
| Contributors | MacGregor, Michael Wm., Grant, Peter R., Drapeau, Martin, Corbett, Lynn, Chartier, Brian M., Paslawski, Teresa |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-08222008-095540/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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