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A fear of falling ill and other aspects of object relations among offspring of depressed parents
Abstract
It is not uncommon for offspring of depressed parents to feel at increased risk for developing their parent's disorder. In this study, I examined the ways in which a fear of developing a parent's disorder speaks to aspects of a person's quality of object relations. Sixty-two college students were asked to provide information about themselves and their parents. Participants took part in a group administration of the Thematic Apperception Test, which was scored for the quality of object relations using Westen's (1985) Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS). Offspring of depressed parents perceived themselves to be at increased risk for developing depression. This perceived vulnerability relates to negative affect tone and poor quality of emotional investment as measured by the SCORS. Findings from this study point to the importance of listening to the ways in which a fear of illness speaks to a person's internal representations. These findings are discussed along with recommendations for future studies.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy|Personality|Developmental psychology|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Christian, Christopher, "A fear of falling ill and other aspects of object relations among offspring of depressed parents" (1996). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9638946.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9638946