Personality maladjustment, defenses, and psychopathological symptoms in nonclinical subjects

This study was designed to assess a three level model of personality impairment, as hypothesized by S. E. Hyler, in a nonclinical sample, according to the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDS-R) total score, and the association of this three level organization with defense styles and state psychopathological symptoms, administering PDQ-R, Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-SF), and Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) to a sample of 254 first-year medical students. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis, performed on the PDQ-R total score, confirmed the three-level model. The one-way multivariate analysis of variance showed a significant; (Pillai's V = .483 p < .0001) association between levels of personality impairment, and DSQ-SF and SCL-90 scales. According to 99% Bonferroni simultaneous confidence intervals, the DSQ-SF Immature Defense and all SCL-90 scale mean scores, except Somatization and Phobic Anxiety, were significantly different in all the three levels of personality impairment. The PDQ-R proved to be quite overinclusive, with particular reference to the Paranoid subscale.