Defense Activities and Coping Strategies at Children with Cerebral Palsy and their Parents

The article describes an empirical study of defense behavior and coping strategies at children with cerebral palsy and their parents. The aim is to study the features and connections of children's and parental psychological defense mechanisms and coping strategies. The study is supported by psychodiagnostic questionnaires by Ryan-Wenger in N.A. Sirot's adaptation, by V.M. Yaltonsky - for children; the adapted version of a technique by N.S. Endler, D.A. Parker's "Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations", the Questionnaire of the parental relations of Vargi - Stolin, test questionnaire by Kellerman and Plutchik in L.I. Wasserman's adaptation - for parents. The results of our study revealed that children with motor impairment show more elementary coping strategies directed to emotions or avoidance compared with more difficult and positive reactions showed by children with standard development. The research of parents showed in the group of parents of children with infantile cerebral palsy (ICP) high values by the criterion "Acceptance-rejection" and also by the criterion "The little outsider", that means they tend to accept their child as such; they accept his peculiarities and consider with them. Parents of children from control group adhere to more idealistic representations and expectations that are far from the reality of their relations with children. But at the same time in "relation to failures of a child" parents of the children from control group consider failures to be accidental and believe in their children more. Parents of the children from experimental group more often consider the cause of failures in the child himself, in his "karma" or "destiny". Differences in coping strategies of parents were expressed in more frequent occurrence among parents of children with ICP of a strategies "Derivation" and "Social derivation", that means that parents of pupils with cerebral palsy try to solve their personal and family problems and difficulties by various options of avoiding, immersion in work or other activity often connected with the help to other people out of family. The analysis of defense mechanisms of parents of children with development problems showed the prevalence of the "reactive transformations" mechanism, which is connected with the overcompensation mechanism. Unpleasant actions, events and thoughts are transformed by the personality into opposite interests exaggeratedly hypertrophying them. Transformation of internal motives happens through the return pole of their development. The prevailing psychological defenses of parents with normally developing children are "denial", "suppression", and "substitution". The correlation analysis revealed connections between the features of the parental relations and coping mechanisms of parents. There was established connection between the scales "Acceptance - rejection", showing extent of emotional acceptance and focused on emotions coping of a child, that demonstrates that in the parental relations people are inclined to show the typical behavior mechanism; two-way connection between the "Acceptance - Rejection" scale and the "Social abstraction" subscale. Thus accepting of a child allows parents realizing themselves not only in parental role, but also participating in social life. Recommendations on the organization of psychological assistance to families with children with ICP are proposed.

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