Familial dyadic patterns in defenses and object relations

The Defense Mechanisms Inventory was administered to 308 sets of marital couples, and adult sons or daughters. The inventory yields five defensive clusters as well as a composite object relations measure. Correlational analyses were aimed at determining the extent to which defensive and object relations styles generalize within the family. Results showed consistent similarities across the family in object relations styles and in acting out defenses. Dyadic analyses showed striking similarities between Husband-Wife, Father-Son, and Mother-Daughter, but not for Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dyads. Results are discussed in context of modeling, sex role, and systems theory.