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Related Experiment Videos

Object relations and physical abuse: a TAT analysis

R N Freedenfeld1, S R Ornduff, R M Kelsey

  • 1University of North Texas, USA.

Journal of Personality Assessment
|June 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary

Physical abuse in children impacts their object relations, leading to a more negative worldview and difficulties in understanding social interactions. These effects manifest in both typical and pathological functioning, with significant clinical implications.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Child Development
  • Trauma Studies

Background:

  • Childhood physical abuse is a significant adverse experience with potential long-term psychological consequences.
  • Object relations theory provides a framework for understanding internal representations of self and others.
  • Social cognition encompasses the processes involved in understanding social interactions and causality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of physical abuse on the object relations and social cognition of children.
  • To examine differences in object relations between physically abused children and a non-abused clinical control group.

Main Methods:

  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories from 39 physically abused children and 39 controls were analyzed.
  • The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales (SCORS) were used for assessment.

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  • Comparative analysis was performed between the two groups.

    • Main Results:

    • Physically abused children exhibited a more malevolent object world compared to controls.
    • A lower capacity for emotional investment in relationships and moral standards was observed in abused children.
    • Abused children showed less accurate, complex, and logical attributions of causality in understanding human interaction.

    Conclusions:

    • Childhood physical abuse is associated with significant impairments in object relations and social cognition.
    • These impairments can manifest as both typical and grossly pathological functioning.
    • Findings have implications for clinical interventions and theoretical understanding of trauma's effects.