A four-year-old boy begins to wet his pants daily after his new baby sister is brought home by his parents. He had been toilet trained and had not had any episodes of wetting for one year. Which of the following defense mechanisms is this boy exhibiting?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The boy is exhibiting regression, a defense mechanism where an individual reverts to an earlier stage of development in response to stress or conflict. In this case, the stress of adjusting to a new sibling leads him to revert to a previous behavior (pants-wetting) that he had outgrown.

A Four-Year-Old Boy Begins to Wet His Pants Daily After