Children's mental representations with respect to caregivers and post-traumatic symptomatology in Somatic Symptom

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Fabiola Bizzi1, Donatella Cavanna1, Rosetta Castellano1

  • 1Department of Educational Science, University of Genoa Genoa, Italy.

Frontiers in Psychology
|August 19, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Children with disruptive behavior and somatic symptom disorders often exhibit insecure attachment styles. This highlights the importance of assessing parent-child attachment for effective treatment and improved caregiving in pediatric mental health.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry
  • Clinical Psychology

Background:

  • Child well-being is influenced by caregiver interactions and mental representations.
  • Attachment styles are crucial for evaluating child psychopathological outcomes.
  • Flexible attachment models can facilitate improvements in caregiving quality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate attachment models in young patients diagnosed with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs) and Somatic Symptoms Disorders (SSDs).
  • To assess levels of post-traumatic symptomatology in these patient groups.
  • To investigate the association between attachment models and post-traumatic symptomatology.

Main Methods:

  • Forty Italian patients (ages 8-15) with diagnosed SSD (N=20) and DBD (N=20) were recruited.
  • Assessment included the Child Attachment Interview (CAI), Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC-A).
  • Socio-demographic data were collected for comprehensive analysis.

Main Results:

  • Over half of the patients in both clinical samples displayed insecure attachment to parents.
  • High levels of disorganized attachment were observed in both DBD and SSD groups.
  • No significant differences in post-traumatic stress and dissociation were found between groups, but differences emerged in depression, anxiety, and fantasy subscales.

Conclusions:

  • The study identifies dysfunctional aspects within clinical populations related to attachment.
  • Parental attachment quality is a fundamental factor in assessing childhood SSD and DBD.
  • Findings underscore the clinical importance of interventions aimed at enhancing parental caregiving.
Abstract

Keywords:
Disruptive Behavior DisorderSomatic Symptom Disorderdisorganized attachmentmental representationsparent–child relationshippost-traumatic symptomatology

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