Temperament as a correlate of adolescent defense mechanisms.

The Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey, which assesses nine dimensions of temperament, and the Defense Style Questionnaire, used to assess defense mechanisms, were completed by 107 female adolescents. Temperament was found to be strongly correlated with defense style, particularly with immature defenses (p = 0.0001). The findings support the hypothesis that the biological dimension of temperament is correlated with specific defense mechanisms.