Defense mechanisms, big five traits, and resilience in cancer: An exploratory, hypothesis-generating pilot study

Introduction: Psychological adaptation to cancer is thought to reflect the joint influence of dispositional traits and defensive functioning on resilience and trauma-related symptoms. Objective: This pilot study explores associations among Big Five traits, defense mechanisms, psychological resilience, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in adult oncology patients. Methods: Sixteen consecutively recruited patients with histologically confirmed cancer completed validated self-report measures: 10-item big five inventory (personality), defense mechanisms rating scales–self-report (30-item, assessing overall defensive functioning and defense levels/mechanisms), 14-item resilience scale (resilience), and impact of event scale–revised (PTSS). Primary analyses estimated Spearman’s ρ with bias-corrected and accelerated 95% confidence intervals; family-wise error was controlled using Holm adjustment (two-tailed α = 0.05). Results: After controlling for multiple comparisons, no associations remained statistically significant, and confidence intervals were wide. Conclusion: Findings are hypothesis-generating and consistent with a psychodynamically informed, multidimensional model in which defensive style and personality dispositions shape resilience and PTSS. Definitive inferences require larger, prospectively characterized cohorts, psychometrically stronger trait measures, and multivariate modeling (e.g., structural equation modeling), with pre-registered analytic plans and longitudinal follow-up to test mechanism-focused interventions that target defense restructuring and resilience enhancement.