Representational content and quality of mothers whose children are failing to thrive: A Rorschach study linking inner life with interpersonal behavior.
Item
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Title
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Representational content and quality of mothers whose children are failing to thrive: A Rorschach study linking inner life with interpersonal behavior.
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Identifier
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AAI9807973
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identifier
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9807973
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Creator
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Monk, Catherine Ena.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Steven J. Ellman
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Date
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1997
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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, Clinical | Psychology, Developmental | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
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Abstract
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This study carries forward the exploration of a link between internal object representations and interpersonal experiences. Attachment and psychoanalytic ideas concerning the significance of unconscious relationship templates and symbolization capacities for the quality of interactions were used for insight into children's development of failure to thrive (FTT). Subjects were 52 mothers and their 9- to 24-month-old child; 28 of the children were normally growing and 24 were FTT. All dyads were video taped for 10-minutes of free play and an unspecified time for feeding. The interactions of the dyads were then coded using Crittenden's (1983) CARE system, which assesses maternal sensitivity, and Chatoor's (Chatoor, Menvielle, Getson, & O'Donnell, 1988) index of the level of reciprocity versus conflict in the dyadic interaction. Mothers were later administered the Rorschach which was coded using the Mutuality of Autonomy Scale (Urist, 1977) and the Transitional Object Scale (Greenberg, Craig, Seidman, Cooper, & Teele, 1985).;Mothers of FTT children had less varied, more uniform representations of self and other, which, in general, were void of aggressive interactions, while mothers of normally growing children had access to a wide range of representations, which included non-mutual, domineering experiences. Mothers of FTT children were judged to be less sensitive during free play and to have more conflicted feeding interactions. The specific kind of internal representations which differentiated the mothers by group were not associated with the group differences on behavioral interactions, which suggests an unidentified conduit for the significance to FTT of mothers' uniform internal representations. However, there was some evidence for relations between mothers' capacities to represent and access a wide variety of internal representations as well as to symbolize in ways reflective of flexible movement between subjective and objective perspectives and the level of mutuality in interactions.;The results of the study support the need to pay attention to the emotional quality of the dyadic relationship in the conceptualization and treatment of FTT as well as uphold the attachment and psychoanalytic notions of the importance of the unconscious inner world to the shaping of interpersonal relationships, particularly those between a mother and child.
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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.
