Structural Relationships between Early Traumatic Experiences, Dysfunctional Parenting Styles, and Illness Anxiety through Immature Defense Mechanisms
Keywords:
Illness anxiety, Early traumatic experiences, Dysfunctional parenting styles, Immature defense mechanismsAbstract
Introduction and Aim: Illness anxiety may develop and persist through the interplay of adverse developmental experiences, dysfunctional parenting patterns, and maladaptive mechanisms for managing emotional distress. This study aimed to determine the structural relationships between early traumatic experiences and dysfunctional parenting styles with illness anxiety through the mediating role of immature defense mechanisms.
Methodology: This fundamental study employed a descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population consisted of 24,000 students enrolled at the University of Tabriz during the 2025–2026 academic year, of whom 450 were selected through multistage cluster sampling. Data were collected using the Evans Illness Anxiety Questionnaire, Bernstein et al.’s Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and Andrews et al.’s Defense Style Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling and bootstrapping were used to test the hypothesized model, and the data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS.
Findings: The structural model demonstrated a satisfactory fit to the data (RMSEA=0.02, χ²/df=2.02, GFI=0.95, CFI=0.94, NFI=0.94, IFI=0.95, TLI=0.95). Childhood traumatic experiences (β=0.25, t=3.24, p=0.001), dysfunctional parenting (β=0.26, t=3.44, p=0.001), and immature defense mechanisms (β=0.41, t=6.43, p=0.001) had significant positive direct effects on illness anxiety. Childhood traumatic experiences (β=0.38, t=5.80, p=0.001) and dysfunctional parenting (β=0.35, t=5.21, p=0.001) also significantly predicted immature defense mechanisms. Furthermore, immature defense mechanisms significantly mediated the association between childhood traumatic experiences and illness anxiety (β=0.16, t=2.98, p=0.001) and between dysfunctional parenting and illness anxiety (β=0.14, t=2.70, p=0.001).
Conclusion: Immature defense mechanisms appear to constitute an important psychological pathway through which childhood traumatic experiences and dysfunctional parenting contribute to illness anxiety. Accordingly, preventive and therapeutic interventions for illness anxiety may benefit from simultaneously addressing adverse early experiences, dysfunctional parenting patterns, and maladaptive defensive functioning.
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