International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy
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Volume 8 Num. 2 - June 2008

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Assessing Defense Styles: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the New Defense Style Questionnaire 60 (DSQ-60)

Volume 8 Num. 2 - June 2008 - Pages 171-181

Authors:

Kylie Louise Thygesen , Martin Drapeau , Rutger Willem Trijsburg , Serge Lecours , Yves de Roten

Abstract:

The Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) has undergone numerous revisions in an effort to
improve reliability and validity. More recently, another version, the DSQ-60, was designed
to be congruent with the DSM-IV. The present study examined the underlying structure of
the DSQ-60 using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic procedures. The scale
was administered to a group of students attending an English-speaking university (n= 305)
and a French-speaking university (n= 212). Three factors (image distorting, affect regulating,
and adaptive) accounted for 47.93% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis corroborated
a three factor model. A new factor reflecting defensive functioning in healthy individuals
was found. Cronbach?s alpha for the three styles was .64, .72, and .61, respectively. Results
are compared with prior research on the DSQ and suggest that the psychometric properties
of the scale remain to be improved before broad use is warranted.

Key words:

defense mechanisms, rating scales, coping, DSQ, Defense Style Questionn.

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