Alcohol, Defense Style, and Gender in Adult University Student Sample

Abstract: The aim of this study was to understand if immature-, mature- and neurotic defense styles are associated with negative-, positive-, and temptation drinking situations in an adult university student sample, as well as investigate gender-specific differences that have been supported in previous research. Similar questions have been previously researched in clinical settings as well as for students and risk groups. The purpose of this study is to replicate earlier research on psychological processes and alcohol by measuring defense style and drinking situations. The data was collected on one occasion through a questionnaire distributed to adult university students in April-May 2023, containing DSQ-40 and IDTS-alcohol. The survey results have been analyzed with several statistical tools, such as a one-way MANOVA, hierarchical linear regression, and moderated linear regression. The results suggest that an immature defense style is associated with negative and temptation drinking situations for both men and women. In contrast, a mature defense style reduces the frequency in which participants find themselves in negative and temptation drinking situations. Furthermore, it suggests gender-specific differences in defense styles, i.e., in the collected sample, men tend to use more mature defense styles, while women tend to use more neurotic defense styles.