Interrelation between defensive mechanisms and coping strategies in psychiatry trainees in Romania: a multicenter study

BACKGROUND: The challenges faced by professionals when working in the field of psychiatry require the development of adequate defensive and coping mechanisms. This study aimed to explore both coping strategies and defense mechanisms and their relationship in psychiatry trainees in Romania. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine and evaluate both defensive and coping mechanisms of Romanian psychiatry trainees. Defensive Style Questionnaire-60 and COPE scale were applied to psychiatry trainees from five training centers in Romania. By applying structural equation modeling, models that presumed the existence of relationships between coping strategies and defensive mechanisms were analyzed. RESULTS: Superior defense mechanisms and task-oriented coping strategies were the commonly used approaches by psychiatry trainees. Furthermore, significantly consistent correlations (ranging from 0.2 to 0.5) between adaptive defense mechanisms and coping strategies focused on the problem or emotion were shown. Similarly, avoidant coping strategies correlated with non-adaptive defense mechanisms (correlations between 0.3 and 0.5). Our model presented good fit indices (X(2)(34) = 64.324, p < 0.001; GFI = 0.93; root mean square error = 0.08). Moreover, the results indicated a weak association between the two types of adaptive processes (r = 0.07, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Psychiatry trainees present a profile based on two independent groups of adaptation processes, namely, adaptive defenses and problem-oriented coping scales and non-adaptive defenses and avoidant coping scales.