The Comparison of Defense and Attachment Styles in Addicted/Non-Addicted Women

The aim of this study was the comparison between defense and attachment styles in addicted and non- addicted women. In doing so, 60 women which located in Tehran (20 addicted, 20 released and 20 non- addicted) were evaluated. Subjects replied to the Defense Style Questionnair (DSQ) and Attachment Styles Questionnair from Coolins and Read. The type of this study was ex post facto and in addition to descriptive statistics, one way anova, and Tooki follow up test were used for data analysis. The results showed that there is a significant difference in anxiety subscale in attachment style between the three groups so we can conclude that addicted people in comparison to nonaddicted are more anxious about rejection. Also results about defense style show that non-addicted and released group in comparison to the addicted group use more mature defense styles and finally about defense mechanism in addicted and non- addicted groups, results showed that addicted people use defense mechanisms like acting out and autistic fantasy more than non- addicted group and use less defense mechanisms like dissociation, sublimation, anticipation and reaction formation. Hence it could be concluded that primary personality factors such as attachment and defense styles could have a special role in commencement and continuing use of drugs in abusers.