The relationship between defense mechanisms and religious coping using a new two-factor solution for the Defense Style Questionnaire-40.

This study examined the factor structure of the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40) and explored the relationships between defense mechanisms and religious coping in a diverse sample of 380 college students. In contrast with the three-factor model of defenses proposed by the developers of the DSQ-40, principal axis factoring yielded two internally consistent components: adaptive and maladaptive defense styles. Endorsement of adaptive defenses was positively correlated with the use of positive religious coping strategies and negatively correlated with negative religious coping.