Relationship of Personality Characteristics and Defense Styles with Eating Disorder in university students

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship of personality characteristics and defense style with eating disorder symptoms. Research method was correlational of and statistical population included students of university of Tehran in 2012 (1390 s.c), among them 350 student were selected via cluster sampling. The research tools were the following three questionnaires: Five Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI,Costa&McCrae,1992),Defense Styles Questionnaires(DSQ-40 Andrews, Sing &Bond,1993), and Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26,Garner,Olmsted,Bohr &Garfikel,1982). Data were analyzed using correctional analysis and multiple regression analysis. The relationship of eating disorder symptoms with defense style of immaturity, defense style of neuroticism, defense style of maturity, personality characteristic of conscientiousness (p<0.01),agreeableness (p<0.05), and neuroticism were significant. Also the results of regression analysis indicated that the personality characteristic of conscientiousness, defense mechanism of immaturity (p<0.01), as well as defense mechanism of splitting, pseudo- altruism, displacement, rationalization and acting out (p<0.05) can predict the eating disorder symptoms.