{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T10:10:10Z","timestamp":1771236610446,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,28]],"date-time":"2021-01-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1611792000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>We have recently found that nondirective meditation facilitates stress reduction. This supplementary study investigated whether defensive functioning would moderate these beneficial effects. We explored the occurrence of defense mechanisms and the impact of defensive functioning on the outcome of companies\u2019 stress management programs regarding worries nervousness, mental distress, sleep problems, and muscle pain. The sample was a population of active, working professionals recruited from Norwegian companies (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 105). The intervention group obtained significant benefits on all outcome measures, but there were no effects in the control group. We analyzed defensive functioning with the self-report questionnaire, Life Style Index, at four time points. The healthy adults who participated had a low level of defense scores at the outset. There was a significant reduction in the level of defenses in both groups over the study period, 6 months. Defensive functioning significantly moderated the change of the outcome measures from baseline to follow-up in the intervention group, but not in the control group.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.629784","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,28]],"date-time":"2021-01-28T13:04:53Z","timestamp":1611839093000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Defensive Functioning Moderates the Effects of Nondirective Meditation"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Anne Grete","family":"Hersoug","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Morten","family":"W\u00e6rsted","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bj\u00f8rn","family":"Lau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Ego defenses: Theory and development","author":"Conte","year":"1995"},{"key":"ref2","article-title":"Modern meditation in the context of science","volume-title":"Meditation and culture: The interplay of practice and context","author":"Ellingsen","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9450.1991.tb00861.x","article-title":"A Norwegian translation of the Plutchik questionnaire for psychological defense","volume":"32","author":"Endresen","year":"1991","journal-title":"Scand. J. Psychol."},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1080\/02678378708258527","article-title":"Psychological stress-factors and concentration of immunoglobulins and complement components in Norwegian nurses","volume":"1","author":"Endresen","year":"1987","journal-title":"Work Stress"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-9450.00025","article-title":"The CODE: a revised battery for coping and defense and its relations to subjective health","volume":"38","author":"Eriksen","year":"1997","journal-title":"Scand. J. Psychol."},{"key":"ref6","volume-title":"Personality structure and measurement","author":"Eysenck","year":"1969"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.1016\/S0033-3182(90)72169-X","article-title":"Self-rated defense style, life stress, and health status: an empirical assessment","volume":"31","author":"Flannery","year":"1990","journal-title":"Psychosomatics"},{"key":"ref8","volume-title":"The ego and the mechansims of defense","author":"Freud","year":"1936"},{"key":"ref9","first-page":"87","article-title":"The neuro-psychoses of defense","volume-title":"The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud","author":"Freud","year":""},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291796004242","article-title":"The validity of two versions of the GHQ in the WHO study of mental illness in general health care","volume":"27","author":"Goldberg","year":"1997","journal-title":"Psychol. Med."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0838.1991.tb00279.x","article-title":"Health, job stress and psychological defense in physically active and inactive subjects","volume":"1","author":"Gr\u00f8nnings\u00e6ter","year":"1991","journal-title":"Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"488","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jadohealth.2009.11.200","article-title":"A prospective study of neck, shoulder and upper back pain among technical school students entering working life","volume":"46","author":"Hanvold","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Adolesc. Health"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.psychotherapy.2002.56.4.539","article-title":"Contribution of defensive functioning to the quality of working alliance and psychotherapy outcome","volume":"56","author":"Hersoug","year":"2002","journal-title":"Am. J. Psychother."},{"key":"ref14","first-page":"139","article-title":"Stress management with Acem Meditation","volume-title":"Fighting stress. Reviews of meditation research","author":"Hersoug","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"290","DOI":"10.1080\/19012276.2018.1443278","article-title":"Nondirective meditation used in stress management","volume":"70","author":"Hersoug","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nord. Psychol."},{"key":"ref16","volume-title":"Psychology of silence: Perspectives on Acem meditation","author":"Holen","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"605","DOI":"10.1080\/00223891.2011.608759","article-title":"Assessing ego defense mechanisms by questionnaire: psychometric properties and psychopathological correlates of the Greek version of the Plutchik\u2019s Life Syle Index","volume":"93","author":"Hyphantis","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Pers. Assess."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"563","DOI":"10.1177\/0020764008099555","article-title":"Psychopathology, defence mechanisms, and the psychosocial work environment","volume":"56","author":"Larsen","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1080\/00313830500372075","article-title":"Student psychological distress: a psychometric study of 1750 Norwegian 1st-year undergraduate students","volume":"50","author":"Nerdrum","year":"2006","journal-title":"Scand. J. Educ. Res."},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/S0165-1781(98)00139-5","article-title":"Stress, depression and immunity: the role of defense and coping styles","volume":"85","author":"Olff","year":"1999","journal-title":"Psychiatry Res."},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/0191-8869(93)90044-4","article-title":"Coping styles and health","volume":"15","author":"Olff","year":"1993","journal-title":"Personal. Individ. Differ."},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"691","DOI":"10.2466\/PMS.107.7.691-706","article-title":"A new scale for measuring insomnia: the Bergen Insomnia Scale","volume":"107","author":"Pallesen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Percept. Mot. Skills"},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"916","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.ajp.2012.11091403","article-title":"Change in defense mechanisms during long-term dynamic psychotherapy and five-year outcome","volume":"169","author":"Perry","year":"2012","journal-title":"Am. J. Psychiatr."},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1080\/07351690.2017.1285185","article-title":"Addressing defenses in psychotherapy to improve adaptation","volume":"37","author":"Perry","year":"2017","journal-title":"Psychoanal. Inq."},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4613-2892-6_9","article-title":"The structural theory of ego defenses and emotions","volume-title":"Emotions in personality and psychopathology","author":"Plutchik","year":"1979"},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"330","DOI":"10.1097\/NMD.0b013e3181a20807","article-title":"Emotional exhaustion and defense mechanisms in intensive therapy unit nurses","volume":"197","author":"Regan","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Nerv. Ment. Dis."},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1080\/13607860600963588","article-title":"Defense mechanism differences between younger and older adults: a cross-sectional investigation","volume":"11","author":"Segal","year":"2007","journal-title":"Aging Ment. Health"},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1097\/00005053-199802000-00006","article-title":"A 50-year longitudinal study of defense use among inner city men: a validation of the DSM-IV defense axis","volume":"186","author":"Soldz","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Nerv. Ment. Dis."},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1080\/02678378808259142","article-title":"Relations between environmental problems, psychology and health among shift-workers in the Norwegian process industry","volume":"2","author":"Vaernes","year":"1988","journal-title":"Work Stress"},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1080\/02678379108256998","article-title":"Relationships between stress, psychological factors, health, and immune levels among military aviators","volume":"5","author":"Vaernes","year":"1991","journal-title":"Work Stress"},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1037\/\/0003-066x.55.1.89","article-title":"Adaptive mental mechanisms \u2010 their role in a positive psychology","volume":"55","author":"Vaillant","year":"2000","journal-title":"Am. Psychol."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.629784\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,28]],"date-time":"2021-01-28T13:04:57Z","timestamp":1611839097000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.629784\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,28]]},"references-count":31,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.629784"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.629784","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,28]]},"article-number":"629784"}}