The role of psychological defences in moderating between trauma and post-traumatic symptoms among Palestinian men

Abstract

Psychological defences are conceptualized as protective processes that help individuals to maintain their integrity in the face of threat and danger. Accordingly, their role in defending trauma victims from post-traumatic symptoms was examined. The sample consisted of 128 Palestinian male political ex-prisoners who had reported various degrees of torture and ill-treatment. The first aim was to analyze the dimensionality and distribution of different defence mechanisms. The second was to examine which defences would moderate the association between the reported torture and ill-treatment and the post-traumatic symptoms (PTS). Third, the direct associations between reported torture and ill-treatment and defences and between the defences and symptoms were explored. Defence mechanisms were assessed by a 40-item version of the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ), and Post-traumatic symptoms by the …