Psychological defence in a structure of maternal relation to an early age child with neurological pathology

Abstract

The article considers the features of psychological defence in the structure of mother’ relation of a to an early age child with neurological pathology. The use of the method of expert evaluation allowed us to work out a procedure for identifying the number and degree of intensity of psychological defence based on the content analysis of mothers’ responses when they complete unfinished sentences about the child and their relation to him/her. The main types of defence mechanisms are identified and the content of negation, projection, displacement, rationalization and substitution is described. It was found that the intensity of psychological defences of a mother is not associated with the age of children and the severity of neurological pathology. Emotional attitude to the child, including unconditional acceptance of the child, acceptance of oneself as a parent, and emotional background of interaction, are associated with the number and intensity of psychological defences. At the same time, the mother’s sensitivity to the child and her behaviour towards him/her are not associated with psychological defences. It is proved that the intensity of psychological defences is directly related to the mothers’ self-esteem of their character and happiness, as well as to the assessment of the child’s health level, and these connections are circular. Psychological protection of a mother during early child dysontogenesis acts as a condition for her well-being, as it distorts information about the severity of the child’s disorder and contributes to a higher self-esteem.

Author Biography

Irina E. Valitova, Brest State A. S. Pushkin University, 21 Kasmanaŭtaŭ Boulevard, Brest 224016, Belarus

PhD (psychology), docent; professor at the department of social work, socio-pedagogical faculty

References

  1. Yeo Reum Lee, Yu Sun Chun. The effects of sandplay therapy on anxiety and defense style of mother of disabled children. Journal of Symbols and Sandplay Therapy. 2016;7(1):77–95. DOI: 10.12964/jsst.170004.
  2. Saeedmanesh M, Azizi M. The effectiveness of acceptance commitment therapy on acceptance and defense style of parent with autistic children. Therapy on the parent with denial defense mechanism. Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2020 January 9];7. Available from: https://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-830-en.pdf.
  3. Jonas M. Behinderte Kinder – behinderte Mütter? Die Unzumutbarkeit einer sozial arrangierten Abhängigkeit. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch; 1990. 159 S.
  4. Sergienko AI, Kholmogorova AB. Post-traumatic growth and coping strategies of parents of children with disabilities. Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy. 2019;27(2):8–26. DOI: 10.17759/cpp.2019270202. Russian.
  5. Nikolskaya IM, Granovskaya RM. Psikhologicheskaya zashchita u detei [Psychological defence in children]. Saint Petersburg: Rech’; 2000. 352 p. Russian.
  6. Bityutskaya EV. Modern approaches to the research of coping with the difficult life situations. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 14. Psikhologiya. 2011;1:100–111. Russian.
  7. Libina AV. Sovladayushchii intellekt [Coping intelligence]. Moscow: Eksmo; 2008. 400 p. Russian.
  8. Chumakova EV. Psikhologicheskaya zashchita lichnosti v sisteme detsko-roditel’skogo vzaimodeistviya [Psychological defence of the individual in the system of child-parent interaction] [dissertation]. Saint Peterburg: Saint Petersburg University; 1998. 184 p. Russian.
  9. Tashlykov VA. Psikhologiya lechebnogo protsessa [Psychology of the therapeutic process]. Leningrad: Meditsina; 1984. 192 p. Russian.
  10. Bond MP. The development and properties of the Defense Style Questionnaire. In: Conte HR, Plutchik R, editors. Ego Defenses: theory and measurement. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1995. p. 202–220. (Einstein Psychiatry Publication; No. 10).
  11. Schuchardt E. Warum gerade ich...? Leben lernen in Krisen, Leiden und Glaube. Fazit aus 2000 Lebensgeschichten eines Jahrhunderts: der Komplementär-Spiralweg Krisenverarbeitung. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; 2013. 360 S.
  12. Mikhailova NF. The family stress concept and the coping paradigm in studying the families of «special» children (a literature review). Bulletin of the South Ural State University. Series «Psychology». 2014;7(3):32–46. Russian.
  13. Lyantsevich AV. Life crisis situation types as a base to measuring a coping effectiveness. Nauchnye trudy Respublikanskogo instituta vysshei shkoly. 2017;17(part 3):246–254. Russian.
  14. Hart J. Toward an integrative theory of psychological defense. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2014;9(1):19–39. DOI: 10.1177/1745691613506018.
  15. Vysotina TN. Osobennosti roditel’skogo otnosheniya k detyam s atipichnym autizmom [Features of parental attitude to children with atypical autism] [dissertation]. Saint Peterburg: Saint Petersburg University; 2013. 162 p. Russian.
  16. Mamaichuk II, Verbruggen AA. [Accounting of defence mechanisms of the personality of parents having children with motor disorders in the process of psychological assistance]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Seriya 12. Psihologiya. Sociologija. Pedagogika. 2009;1(part 1):355–363. Russian.
  17. Pyatakova GV, Mamaichuk II, Umnov VV. Psychological defence mechanisms in children with cerebral palsy in the context of maternal attitude to the child’s disease. Pediatric Traumatology, Orthopaedics and Reconstructive Surgery. 2017;5(3): 58–65. Russian. DOI: 10.17816/PTORS5358-67.
  18. Pervichko EI, Dovbysh DV. Personal meaning of child disease as a factor of family adherence to treatment (study of families raising children with cerebral palsy). National Psychological Journal. 2016;2(22):61–72. Russian. DOI: 10.11621/npj.2016.0206.
  19. Steshenko EA. Research of mother’s attitude to disease of her child with cerebral palsy. Detskaya i podrostkovaya reabilitatsiya. 2015;1(24):69–72. Russian.
  20. Tikhomirova VS. [Impacts of the severity of infantile cerebral palsy in preschoolers on emotional characteristics and personality traits of their mothers]. Psikhologicheskie issledovaniya [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2020 January 9];5(26):11. Available from: http://psystudy.ru/index.php/num/2012v5n26/762-tikhomirova26.html. Russian.
  21. Shabanova EV. System of parent-child and marital relationships in families with a child with autism spectrum disorder. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo Universiteta. Seriya 12. Psikhologiya. Sotsiologiya. Pedagogika. 2013;3:80–86. Russian.
  22. Takyun CJ, Ogwo A. Psychological defense mechanisms and coping behaviour: parenting of young children with psychological developmental disorders. International Journal for Psychotherapy in Africa. 2019;4(1):134–140.
  23. Abbasi M, Pirani Z. Pathological defense mechanisms of parents of deaf children and children with intellectual disabilities: a search for corrective solutions. Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2020 January 9];7(17):17. Available from: https://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-678-en.html.
  24. Burlachuk LF. Vvedenie v proektivnuyu psikhologiyu [An introduction to projective psychology]. Kiev: Nika-Tsentr; 1997. 128 p. (Noveishaya psikhologiya; No. 3). Co-published by the «Vist-S». Russian.
  25. Sokolova ET. Proektivnye metody issledovaniya lichnosti [Projective methods of personality research]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Moskovskogo universiteta; 1980. 176 p. Russian.
  26. Yan’shin PV. Praktikum po klinicheskoi psikhologii. Metody issledovaniya lichnosti [Practical training in clinical psychology. Methods of personality research]. Saint Petersburg: Piter; 2004. 336 p. (Praktikum po psikhologii). Russian.
  27. Pantileev SR, Zhilina EYu. Diagnostic method for personality defence mechanisms. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14. Psikhologiya. 2009;1:67–80. Russian.
  28. Milanich YuM. Parents’ attitude to child with psychophysical development disorders. Vestnik Leningradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta imeni A. S. Pushkina. 2010;5(3):44–54. Russian.
  29. Steshenko EA. [Results of studying the mother’s attitude to the disease of her child suffering from cerebral palsy]. Pedagogicheskoe obrazovanie v Rossii. 2016;10:112–119. Russian. DOI: 10.26170/po16-10-19.
  30. Zakharova EI. [Questionnaire for the study of the emotional side of child-parent interaction]. Semeinaya psikhologiya i semeinaya terapiya. 1997;1:67–77. Russian.
  31. Rubinstein SYa. Eksperimental’nye metodiki patopsikhologii i opyt ikh primeneniya v klinike [Experimental methods of pathopsychology and the experience of their application in the clinic]. Moscow: Medicina; 1970. 215 p. Russian.
  32. Valitova IE. Mother’ rehabilitation activity in the case of neurological pathology of an early age child. Psychology. Psychophysiology. Forthcoming 2021:1. Russian.
Published
2021-02-18
Keywords: psychological defence, defence mechanisms, crisis life situation, early age children, children with developmental disorders, maternal relation
How to Cite
Valitova, I. E. (2021). Psychological defence in a structure of maternal relation to an early age child with neurological pathology. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology, 1, 52-66. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/philosophy/article/view/3142
Issue
No 1 (2021): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology
Section
Psychological Researches

Copyright (c) 2021 Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)