Comparing resiliency, social competence and defense mechanism styles in women with and without ovarian cysts

The present study aimed to compare the resiliency, social competence and defense mechanism styles in women with and without ovarian cysts is done. For this purpose, in a causative comparative study, 140 women, aged 18 to 38, who were admitted to Kasra hospital in Tehran with a diagnosis of ovarian cysts and lack of ovarian cysts, were selected through purposive sampling method and evaluated in terms of resiliency, defense mechanism styles and social competence. The result of multivariate analysis of variance demonstrated that there is significant difference between resilience scores in the two groups and that women without ovarian cysts have higher scores than women with ovarian cysts for resiliency. Furthermore, the results determined that among the defense mechanism styles, only for immature defense mechanisms scores there are significant differences between the two groups; women with ovarian cysts use these mechanisms more often than women without ovarian cysts. Additionally, in regards to social support scale, women with ovarian cysts received lower scores that show women without ovarian cysts receive more social support compared to women with ovarian cysts. The results indicate higher prevalence of psychological problems among women with ovarian cysts. It seems that training based on strengthening the resiliency and increasing levels of social competence in women can have preventive values.