Two groups of 26 age- and sex-matched outpatients, with DSM-IV diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia, were compared on the Defense Mechanism Test-Separation Theme. A stimulus portraying a mother figure who is leaving a room where a baby lies alone on the floor was presented 22 times at increasing exposure durations in a single-view tachistoscope. Participants were asked to describe what they perceived at each step, according to the method of the Defense Mechanism Test. As predicted, reports of the mother seen as an inanimate object (phobic repression) were statistically significantly associated with agoraphobia, while reports of the mother entering the room or doing something other than leaving the baby (reaction formation) and reports of the baby as an angel (intellectualization) were associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Saya, A., Pezzarossa, B., Rubino, I. (2009). The defense mechanism test-separation theme in two anxiety disorders. PERCEPTUAL AND MOTOR SKILLS, 109(3), 690-694.

The defense mechanism test-separation theme in two anxiety disorders

SAYA, ANNA;PEZZAROSSA, BIANCA;RUBINO, IVO
2009-12-01

Abstract

Two groups of 26 age- and sex-matched outpatients, with DSM-IV diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia, were compared on the Defense Mechanism Test-Separation Theme. A stimulus portraying a mother figure who is leaving a room where a baby lies alone on the floor was presented 22 times at increasing exposure durations in a single-view tachistoscope. Participants were asked to describe what they perceived at each step, according to the method of the Defense Mechanism Test. As predicted, reports of the mother seen as an inanimate object (phobic repression) were statistically significantly associated with agoraphobia, while reports of the mother entering the room or doing something other than leaving the baby (reaction formation) and reports of the baby as an angel (intellectualization) were associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
dic-2009
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Sì, ma tipo non specificato
Settore MED/25 - PSICHIATRIA
English
Reproducibility of Results; Humans; Agoraphobia; Psychometrics; Defense Mechanisms; Panic Disorder; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Adult; Anxiety, Separation; Projective Techniques; Female; Male; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Saya, A., Pezzarossa, B., Rubino, I. (2009). The defense mechanism test-separation theme in two anxiety disorders. PERCEPTUAL AND MOTOR SKILLS, 109(3), 690-694.
Saya, A; Pezzarossa, B; Rubino, I
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/57170
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