Parental perceptions and psychopathology.
Various theories of personality and psychopathology hypothesize that there should be a relationship between parental perceptions and level of psychopathology. However, there has been relatively little research investigating the parental perceptions-psychopathology relationship, and much of the research in this area has been methodologically flawed. The present study tested four hypotheses regarding the parental perceptions-psychopathology relationship, using a parental representations measure that circumvents many of the problems that have characterized previous research on this topic. Results indicated that psychiatric patients (N = 66): a) viewed both parents more negatively than did members of a matched sample of 66 normal subjects; b) expressed significantly greater ambivalence regarding both parents than did normal subjects; and c) described both parents at a more primitive conceptual level than did normal subjects. As predicted, there was a parallel relationship between perceptions of the parents and overall level of psychopathology within the inpatient sample. The findings are discussed in the context of traditional trait-oriented personality theories as well as more recent social learning theories of personality.
Bornstein
R F
RF
Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania 17325.
O'Neill
R M
RM
D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010551:Personality; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception