A representação materna em crianças com mães depressivas

Abstract

This Master’s Degree thesis in clinical psychology aims to comprehend the maternal representation from the child’s - whose mothers have mental issues (Depressive Disorder) - perspective. Therefore, maternal aspects related to clinical manifestations of the mothers and also to the comprehension of intrapsychic characteristics associated with the quality of the maternal object relationships have been investigated. Yet, the clinical manifestations of the children as well as the identification of the emotional expression, the defensive processes, the strategies in conflict management, social behavior signs and famil y conflicts have been analyzed. This is a qualitative study - in a multiple-choice case-study procedure – in which five mothers and their children, aged between 7 and 11, participated. A semi-structured interview, Socio-demographics data analysis, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Bell Object Relations and Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI-O), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), MacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB) and the family drawing test have been used for this investigation. According to the qualitative analysis, it was possible to verify that these children have a representation of a disciplinarian mother who has difficulties in expressing affection and clinical results such as internalization and emotional suffering. A conceptual and instrumental review article was developed aiming to discuss theconceptual basis of the construct of the parental representation and to analyze the possibilities to evaluate the child representations based on the narratives of MacArthur Story Stem Battery. This dissertation can contribute to enlarge the reflections on maternal representation in children whose mothers have mental health problems, providing a refinement and a discussion opportunity aiming prevention and intervention strategies in families who live this problem.