[Deontological problems of childhood and adolescence]

Due account of age-related features of infantile and juvenile psychology and psychopathology is considered to be a major principle in general medical deontology as related to personality psychology and psychiatry in children and adolescents. Three main types of personality formation in childhood and character accentuation in adolescence are defined. Deontological practice attributes an important value to defining the "type of emotional experience of disease" and peculiarities of "adaptive responses to disease". The term "type of emotional experience of disease" signifies the character of personal response of a child realizing he or she is sick. Anosognostic, dysthymic and regressive types of experiencing a disease are most common for children. In adolescence, hysteroid, depressive-phobic, anxious-depressive and depressive-hypochondriac types were also found. The psychological and pathological forms of "adaptive response to disease" in children and adolescents are described. The problem of prevention of the negative impact of several factors linked with the patients hospitalization is discussed with special reference to painful diagnostic and therapeutic manipulations, psychic deprivation, hospitalism as well as iatrogenesis, egrotogenia and didactogenia. The psychotherapeutic and psychocorrective policy is considered as being aimed at preventing the negative effect of therapeutic-diagnostic work on the child or adolescent psychic sphere.