Ego Functions in Relation to Stressful Life Events and Indices of Psychopathology in Paranoid Schizophrenia

Abstract

This study explored the role of 12 ego functions in relation to Stressful Life Events and three indices of psychopathology, namely, Psychoticism, Anxiety, and Depression among 60 Bengali adult patients suffering from Paranoid Schizophrenia. Adapted versions of Bellak's Ego Function Assessment–M, Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were administered to them. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that Object Relation was associated with all three indices. Scores on Reality Testing correlated with those on Psychoticism, Stressful Life Events and scores on Thought Process with Anxiety, and Stressful Life Events, Sense of Reality, and scores on Defensive Functions with Depression. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that Object Relation also moderated between stressful life events and anxiety.