Overt and fantasized aggression toward parents by enuretic and nonenuretic children

This study compared the amount and direction of overt and fantasized aggression of enuretic and nonenuretic children. Following the dynamic approach, it was hypothesized that enuretic children would differ from nonenuretics in having more difficulty in expressing overt aggression toward their mothers than toward a neutral figure. In fantasy, enuretic children were expected to express more aggression feelings toward their parents than control subjects. Twenty-eight enuretic subjects and a matched group of control subjects were induced to aggress toward their mothers and toward a neutral figure. The experimental situation was a variation of the Buss (1961) technique for eliciting and measuring aggression. Aggressive fantasies were assessed, using Bene and Anthony's Family Relation Test (1957). A significant interaction was obtained between enuresis/nonenuresis and target figures. Enuretic subjects expressed more aggression toward a neutral figure than toward the mother (p = .05) and differed from the control group in expressing less aggression toward the mother (p = .10). On the fantasy level, a significantly opposite trend to the predicted one emerged: Enuretic subjects showed less aggression toward both parents. The results were discussed with respect to the dynamic and the behavioristic approach to enuresis, and further research directions were suggested.