Defense mechanisms of medical interns and correlation with spiritual health

Objective: Psychological defense mechanisms reflect how individuals cope with conflicts and stress. This study aimed to describes defense mechanisms in medical interns and their correlation with spiritual health.Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students of the academic year ۲۰۲۳. ۱۶۸ medical interns meeting the study criteria completed two questionnaires including defense mechanisms (DSQ-۴۰) by Andrews et al. (۱۹۹۳) and spiritual health Paloutzian and Ellison (۱۹۸۲) .The analysis was performed using SPSS.v۲۵ software with Pearson, t-tests, and ANOVA tests.Results: The mean score of mature defense mechanisms (۴۳.۳۱±۱۶.۸۳) among medical interns was higher than immature (۹۸.۵۲±۵۲.۸) and neurotic (۳۶.۷۵±۱۸.۳) defense mechanisms. The immature defense mechanism was significantly higher in males compared to in females (۹۹.۴۳±۲۳.۴۱ vs ۱۰۸.۴۷±۲۳.۲۱, p=۰.۰۱۴). Also, the mean score of immature defense mechanisms in single individuals was significantly higher than in married ones (۱۰۶.۶۶±۲۴.۰۲ vs ۹۳.۱۲±۱۹.۵۶, p=۰.۰۰۱). The spiritual health of interns had a significant and direct correlation (r=۰.۲۴۹) with mature defense mechanisms and a significant negative correlation (r=-۰.۳۳۶) with immature defense mechanisms.Conclusion: Higher spiritual health in medical interns is associated with greater use of mature defense mechanisms and lesser use of immature defense mechanisms.Keywords: defense mechanisms, spiritual health, medical interns, mature defense, immature defense.

کلیدواژه ها:

Defense Mechanisms ، spiritual Health ، medical interns ، mature defense ، immature defense