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Asthmatic children away from home: a comparative psychological study
The Journal of Asthma Research
|September 1, 1975
Summary
Children with asthma who remit symptoms when away from home show emotional awareness, unlike those with persistent asthma. Nonremitting children repress anger and needs for nurturing, often linked to developmental conflicts.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Psychosomatic Disorders
- Psychoanalytic Theory
Background:
- Asthma in children is often linked to psychological factors and emotional conflicts.
- Previous research suggests a connection between the onset of asthma and developmental periods.
- Understanding the psychological underpinnings of asthma remission is crucial for effective treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the fantasies and emotional awareness of rapidly remitting versus nonremitting asthmatic children.
- To explore the role of repressed emotions and defensive ego functioning in persistent childhood asthma.
- To investigate the relationship between developmental conflicts, particularly during the anal period, and asthma symptom persistence.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of fantasies between two groups of asthmatic children: Rapidly Remitting and Nonremitting.
- Assessment of emotional awareness, specifically anger and longing for nurturing relationships.
- Evaluation of defensive ego functioning and repression levels.
- Exploration of potential links to developmental stages, such as the anal period and toilet training.
Main Results:
- Rapidly Remitting children demonstrated awareness of anger towards parental figures and a desire for nurturing relationships.
- Nonremitting children showed a lack of awareness regarding these emotions, indicating significant repression.
- All children possessed these underlying feelings, but Nonremitting children repressed them more extensively.
- Conflicts arising during the anal developmental period were strongly associated with Nonremitting asthma.
Conclusions:
- Emotional awareness and the capacity to express feelings are key differentiators between remitting and nonremitting asthmatic children.
- Nonremitting asthmatic children exhibit significant emotional repression and passive-aggressive resistance, often masked by compliant behavior.
- Psychoanalytic insights into developmental conflicts, particularly anal-stage issues, are vital for understanding and treating persistent childhood asthma.