TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Ribolsi, Michele
AU  -  Esposto, Eleonora
AU  -  Cancelliere, Federica
AU  -  Albergo, Giuliano
AU  -  Di Lorenzo, Giorgio
AU  -  Di Lazzaro, Vincenzo
AU  -  Tonini, Giuseppe
T1  -  Defense style and psychopathology in oncological patients: 
a preliminary report
PY  -  2023
Y1  -  2023-11-01
DO  -  10.1701/4133.41269
JO  -  Recenti Progressi in Medicina
JA  -  Recenti Prog Med
VL  -  114
IS  -  11
SP  -  665
EP  -  668
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2038-1840
Y2  -  2026/04/29
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1701/4133.41269
N2  -  Summary. Introduction. Previous studies shows that 30-40% of oncological and hematological patients report symptoms of distress compatible with a psychiatric disorder. The use of various and mostly unconscious defense mechanisms is implemented to cope with increased suffering after a cancer diagnosis. In this preliminary report, we explored the presence of defense mechanisms and their associations with psychopathological dimensions in a sample of late-stage cancer patients without history of psychiatric disorders. Methods. We recruited 50 patients (28 females, 18-64 years old) with cancer diagnosis without prior history of any substance use disorder or psychiatric disorders. All participants were given the following self-report questionnaires: the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and the 40-item version of the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40). Results. In our study we demonstrated significant psychiatric distress in a third of our patients (defined as SCL-90 ≥2 points). A Pearson correlation analysis on all patients shows that psychotic defense styles were correlated with hostility, obsessive-compulsive, anxiety, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, and psychoticism, while neurotic defense styles correlated with somatization. Discussion and conclusion. Our results are in line with previous findings showing that one third of cancer patients suffers from a psychiatric disorder. Moreover, we found that somatization correlates with both psychotic and neurotic defense mechanism styles. This demonstrates the importance of assessing oncological patients coping mechanisms to achieve best possible treatment.
ER  -