Comparison of Stress Coping Styles, Defense Mechanisms, and Type D Personality in Patients with Psoriasis and Seborrheic Dermatitis and Healthy Individuals

Authors

    Anahita Falizi Master of Science in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
    Fatemeh Golshani * Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. fa_golshan@yahoo.com
    Hojjat Eftekhari Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The present study aimed to compare stress coping styles, defense mechanisms, and Type D personality in patients with psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, and healthy individuals. This causal-comparative study included patients with psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis who visited the Razi Specialized and Subspecialized Dermatology Clinic in Rasht during the spring of 2021. From this population, 60 patients with psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis and 30 healthy individuals, who were companions of the patients, were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Stress Coping Styles Questionnaire (Lazarus & Folkman), the Defense Style Questionnaire (Andrews et al.), and the Type D Personality Scale (Denollet). Data analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS version 2023. The results indicated significant differences among the groups in emotion-focused coping style (F = 38.88, p = .001), neurotic defense mechanisms (F = 69.91, p = .001), immature defense mechanisms (F = 27.25, p = .001), and the Type D personality components of negative affectivity (F = 3.96, p = .022) and social inhibition (F = 112.59, p = .001). The findings of this study suggest that differences in coping styles, defense mechanisms, and Type D personality components may play an important role in the development and persistence of psychological responses in dermatological patients. In other words, distinct personality and emotional patterns among individuals with psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis may influence how they experience and manage disease-related stress.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Balato A, Zink A, Babino G, Buononato D, Kiani C, Eyerich K, et al. The impact of Psoriasis and Atopic Dermatitis on quality of life: A literature research on biomarkers. Life. 2022;12(12):1-10. Epub 2022/12/24. doi: 10.3390/life12122026. PubMed PMID: 36556392; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9782020.

2. Woźniak E, Owczarczyk-Saczonek A, Placek W. Psychological stress, mast cells, and psoriasis-is there any relationship? International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021;22(24):1-10. Epub 2021/12/25. doi: 10.3390/ijms222413252. PubMed PMID: 34948049; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8705845.

3. Yeh C, Flatley E, Elkattawy O, Berger L, Rao B. Exercise in dermatology: Exercise's influence on skin aging, skin cancer, psoriasis, venous ulcers, and androgenetic alopecia. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2022;87(1):183-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2021.07.023.

4. Ghorbanibirgani A, Fallahi-Khoshknab M, Zarea K, Abedi H. The lived experience of psoriasis patients from social stigma and rejection: A qualitative study. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. 2016;18(7):1-10. Epub 2016/09/23. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.27893. PubMed PMID: 27656290; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5026766.

5. Derakhshan A, K MMA, Seirafi MR. Comparison of depression, anxiety, rumination, thought suppression and coping styles in spouses of schizophrenic patients and normal individuals. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2016;10(39):367-86.

6. Duru H. Pessimism, Defensive Pessimism, Avoidant Coping, and Career Indecision in High School Students: A Model Test. İzü Eğitim Dergisi. 2024;6(2):131-49. doi: 10.46423/izujed.1496360.

7. Abedi S, Davazdah Emamy MH, Ehsani Ah, Jafari M. The role of type D personality and difficulties in emotion regulation in the prediction of depressive symptoms in patients with psoriasis. Dermatology and Cosmetic. 2017;8(2):71-82.

8. Shehata H, Mohamed A, Ramadan F. Relationship between emotional regulation strategies and self-reported ego defense styles among nursing interns at Alexandria, main university hospital. Journal of Nursing and Health Science. 2016;6(1):14-23.

9. Sala MN, Testa S, Pons F, Molina P. Emotion regulation and defense mechanisms. Journal of Individual Differences. 2015;36(1):19-29.

10. Silverman J, Aafjes-van Doorn K. Coping and defense mechanisms: A scoping review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 2023. doi: 10.1037/cps0000139.

11. Granieri A, La Marca L, Mannino G, Giunta S, Guglielmucci F, Schimmenti A. The relationship between defense patterns and DSM-5 maladaptive personality domains. Front Psychol. 2017;8:1-12. Epub 2017/11/23. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01926. PubMed PMID: 29163301; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5673655.

12. Bahmani Nia M, Sohrabi Shegefti N. Comparison of Ego Strength, Defense Mechanisms, and Object Relations in Individuals with Depression and Healthy Individuals. Clinical Psychology and Personality. 2024;22(1):126-45.

13. Zanjanchi Niko S, Farahani A, editors. Comparison of Ego Strength and Defense Mechanisms in Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and Healthy Individuals2024; Khomeini Shahr.

14. Prout TA, Malone A, Rice T, Hoffman L. Resilience, Defense Mechanisms, and Implicit Emotion Regulation in Psychodynamic Child Psychotherapy. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. 2019. doi: 10.1007/s10879-019-09423-w.

15. Zhu R, Feng C, Zhang S, Mai X, Liu C. Differentiating guilt and shame in an interpersonal context with univariate activation and multivariate pattern analyses. NeuroImage. 2019;186:476-86. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.11.012.

16. Vaish A. The prosocial functions of early social emotions: the case of guilt. Curr Opin Psychol. 2018;20:25-9. Epub 2017/08/23. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.08.008. PubMed PMID: 28830002.

17. Xie Q-W, Chan CL-w, Chan CH-y. The wounded self—lonely in a crowd: A qualitative study of the voices of children living with atopic dermatitis in Hong Kong. Health & Social Care in the Community. 2020;28(3):862-73. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12917.

18. Salman Nasab A, Yusefi R, Yagubi H. Comparison of Personality Organization in People with Dark and Bright Personality Traits. Iranian Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. 2024;2(4):28-35. doi: 10.61838/kman.jndd.2.4.4.

19. Guadalupe C, DeShong HL. Personality and coping: A systematic review of recent literature. Personality and Individual Differences. 2025;239:113119. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2025.113119.

20. Iwanicka K, Gerhant A, Olajossy M. Psychopathological symptoms, defense mechanisms and time perspectives among subjects with alcohol dependence (AD) presenting different patterns of coping with stress. PeerJ. 2017;5:e3576. Epub 2017/08/10. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3576. PubMed PMID: 28791198; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5546178.

21. Whitman CN, Gottdiener WH. Implicit Coping Styles as a Predictor of Aggression. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 2015;24(7):809-24. doi: 10.1080/10926771.2015.1062447.

Downloads

Published

2023-10-01

Submitted

2023-04-13

Revised

2023-04-13

Accepted

2023-11-23

How to Cite

Falizi, A. ., Golshani, F., & Eftekhari, H. . (2023). Comparison of Stress Coping Styles, Defense Mechanisms, and Type D Personality in Patients with Psoriasis and Seborrheic Dermatitis and Healthy Individuals. Mental Health and Lifestyle Journal, 1(2), 1-12. https://mhljournal.com/index.php/mhlj/article/view/140