DEFENSE-MECHANISM TEST AND ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY

Electrodermal activity was registered during examination with the Defe nse Mechanism Test of 21 patients diagnosed with anxiety disorder, aff ective disorder, or schizophrenic disorder. The test can be interprete d as a model situation of how a person defends himself against a threa t to avoid anxiety. We used Andersson's modified version of the test a nd tested the hypothesis that electrodermal activity should increase w hen there were responses categorised as Anxiety and decrease when ther e were responses categorised as defences or when the threat was correc tly identified. We found significant increase in all electrodermal var iables in connection with responses categorised as Anxiety. After expo sures with responses categorised as Isolation, the maximal skin conduc tance level and the magnitude of late nonspecific responses were signi ficantly decreased. After exposures when the threat was identified and thus no longer subliminal, the electrodermal activity was significant ly decreased. All these findings support our hypothesis. After exposur es with responses categorised as Denial all electrodermal variables we re significantly increased. Similarly in responses categorised as Repr ession, Introaggression, and Disavowal or denial of hero's sex the fre quency of late nonspecific responses were significantly increased. The increased electrodermal activity could be due to insufficient defence strategies as categorised in the Defense Mechanism Test.