ABSTRACT
Data about 145 adolescent inpatients were used to examine the relationship between past patterns of aggressive behavior and behavior during the initial period of psychiatric hospitalization. During their first month in the hospital, adolescents with a history of externally directed aggression were more likely to present management problems, compared with adolescents without this history. Adolescents with a history of internally directed aggression were more likely to be self-destructive. However, no association was found between adolescents' preadmission patterns of aggression and the likelihood that they would experience depressive symptoms in the hospital. Associations were found between adolescents' patterns of aggression and diagnoses. The authors suggest strategies to enhance treatment of adolescents with various patterns of aggression during the initial phase of hospitalization.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Hospitalization , Mental Disorders/psychology , Mental Disorders/therapy , Adolescent , Aggression/psychology , Child , Defense Mechanisms , Female , Gender Identity , Humans , Long-Term Care/psychology , Male , Personality Assessment , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Self-Injurious Behavior/psychology , Self-Injurious Behavior/therapyABSTRACT
Current methods for assessing the quality of internalized object representations have not provided a continuous variable that simultaneously includes both an accuracy and a maturity component. A modification of Blatt, Brooks, Brenneis, and Schimek's (1976) Concept of the Object on the Rorschach scale that would combine the two components by weighting the quality of each response according to its form level was proposed. Initial discriminant and convergent validity of this modification was checked through correlations and multiple regression analyses using behavioral, diagnostic, and demographic data from 84 adolescent inpatients as dependent variables. Results indicate the modified score was directly related to measures of peer relatedness, intelligence, psychological health, and reality testing, and indirectly related to measures of psychosis and hostile, unmanageable behavior. The results support the utility of the modification for providing a continuous score that assesses both developmental maturity and accuracy, the two dimensions on which the concept of object representation is based.
Subject(s)
Object Attachment , Personality Development , Personality Disorders/psychology , Rorschach Test , Adolescent , Concept Formation , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Personality Disorders/diagnosis , Psychometrics , Residential Treatment , Social Behavior Disorders/psychology , Social EnvironmentSubject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Milieu Therapy/methods , Personality Development , Psychoanalytic Therapy/methods , Residential Treatment/methods , Adolescent , Defense Mechanisms , Female , Humans , Long-Term Care , Male , Object Attachment , Personality Assessment , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Reality TestingSubject(s)
Object Attachment , Personality Development , Psychoanalytic Therapy/methods , Residential Treatment/methods , Adolescent , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/therapy , Combined Modality Therapy , Depressive Disorder/therapy , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Long-Term Care , Male , Personality Disorders/therapy , Physician-Patient Relations , Psychotic Disorders/therapy , Schizophrenia/therapy , Self ConceptABSTRACT
The authors studied the history of aggressive and self-destructive behaviors in psychotic and nonpsychotic hospitalized adolescents (N = 137). A multidimensional measure of self- and other-directed aggression was retrospectively applied to each patient's social and developmental history. Nonsignificant gender and diagnostic differences were obtained on ratings of violence and suicide. Broader definitions of internal and external aggression yielded nonsignificant diagnostic differences, but gender differences were observed on both internal and external aggression measures. Females displayed greater internal aggression, and males reported higher external aggression scores. These results, compared to those of other investigators, suggest the importance of social and cultural variables in understanding adolescent psychosis and aggression.
