Adaptive regression and maternal empathy: A Rorschach study of unconscious fantasy during pregnancy.
Item
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Title
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Adaptive regression and maternal empathy: A Rorschach study of unconscious fantasy during pregnancy.
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Identifier
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AAI9304663
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identifier
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9304663
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Creator
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Frank, Mary Ann.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Steven Tuber
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Date
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1992
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Personality | Psychology, Developmental | Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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The present study investigates the hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between a woman's capacity for adaptive regression on the Rorschach test administered during pregnancy and her later capacity for maternal empathy, as measured by her infant's attachment status at one year.;Data were gathered from 25 mother-infant dyads. Rorschachs were administered to mothers in the second and third trimesters of their first pregnancies. These protocols were scored using the Holt Manual for Assessing Primary Process Manifestations on the Rorschach; mean and highest adaptive regression scores were obtained. Infants and their mothers were videotaped in the Ainsworth Strange Situation when the infants were a year old.;The findings support the hypothesis that greater ease of access to well-regulated primary process fantasy during pregnancy is significantly, positively related to infant security of attachment at one year. The post hoc findings further suggest that the content of unconscious fantasy among mothers of securely attached infants is distinguished by the presence of maternal themes and images. Finally the distribution of attachment classifications by gender suggests the possibility of a gender effect among infants who are less emotionally reactive in the Strange Situation. In this study, girls evidencing this "minimizing" pattern of emotional arousal and regulation were consistently classified as securely attached, while boys were nearly always judged as insecure/avoidant.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
