The Role of Identifications in Women Psychopathology

Authors: Mary Gouva, Elena Dragioti, Evangelia Kotrsotsiou

Abstract:

Family identification has the potential to play a very decisive role in psychopathology. In this study we aimed to investigate the impact of family identifications on female psychopathology. A community sample of 101 women (mean age 20.81 years, SD = 0.91 ranged 20-25) participated to the present study. The girls completed a) the Symptom Check-List Revised (SCL-90) and b) questionnaire concerning socio-demographic information and questions for family identifications. The majority of women reported that they matched to the father in terms of identifications (47.1%). Age and birth order were not contributed on family identifications (F(5) =2.188, p=.062 and F(3)=1.244, p=.299 respectively). Multivariate analysis by using MANCOVA found statistical significant associations between family identifications and domains of psychopathology as provided by SCL-90 (P<05). Our results highlight the role of identifications especially on father and female psychopathology as well as replicate the Freudian perception about the female Oedipus complex.

Keywords: Family Identification, Psychoanalysis, Psychopathology, Women.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1336955

References:

[1] J. Laplanche and J. B. Pontalis, The Language of Psycho-Analysis. The Hogarth Press Ltd, 1973, pp.205 – 208.
[2] K.E. Bojczyk, T.J. Lehan, L.M. McWey, G.F. Melson and D.R. Kaufman, "Mothers' and Their Adult Daughters' Perceptions of Their Relationship,” Journal of Family Issues, vol. 32,pp. 452–481, 2011.
[3] M. Charles, S. J. Frank, S. Jacobson, and G. Grossman, "Repetition of the remembered past: Patterns of separation-individuation in two generations of mothers and daughters,” Psychoanalytic Psychology, vol.18, pp. 705-728,2001.
[4] G. Elder, "The life course as developmental theory,” Child Development, vol.69, pp. 1-12, 1998.
[5] Α. Potamianou, Les Enfants de la Folle – Violence dans les Identifications, Privat, 1984.
[6] H. Remschmidt, and F. Mattejat, Familien – Identifikations- Test (FIT).Göttingen, Hogrefe, 1999.
[7] L. R. Derogatis, The SCL-90 Manual I. Scoring, Administration and Procedures for the SL-90. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Clinical Psychometrics Unit, 1977.
[8] L.R. Derogatis, Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). Minneapolis, MN: Computer Systems, Inc, 1993.
[9] S. Donias, A. Karastergiou, and N. Manos, "Standardization of the symptom check–list-90-R rating scale in a Greek population,” Psychiatriki, vol. 2, pp. 42-48, 1991.
[10] R. C. Friedman and, J. I. Downey, "Biology and the Oedipus complex,” The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, vol. 64, pp. 234-264, 1995.
[11] D.S. Jaffe, "Some relations between the negative Oedipus complex and aggression in the male,” Journal of American Psychoanalytic Association, vol. 31, pp.957-984, 1993.
[12] H.W. Loewald, "The Waning of the Oedipus Complex,” The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, vol. 9, pp. 239-249, 2000.