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L'objectif de cet article consiste à présenter l'analyse historique et épistémologique des différents courants psychologiques à l'origine de la création des épreuves projectives de jeu durant le XXe siècle en Europe. L'analyse psychodynamique des mobiles du jeu chez l'enfant, leurs traces chez l'adolescent et l'adulte permettent d'étudier les différents modes d'appréhension de l'analyse du jeu selon les créateurs. La mise au jour des liens entre les différents créateurs et chercheurs est examinée à partir du socle commun, le jeu, avec ses différences de traitements et de mises en œuvre. L'apport pour chacune des versions des épreuves de jeu est consigné dans l'analyse de la diversification des méthodes. Les résultats obtenus par cette recherche historique et épistémologique des épreuves de jeu attestent de l'hétérogénéité des théories des créateurs. Néanmoins, ces épreuves conservent des buts communs centrés sur le mode de traitement spatial des constructions, la projection de la qualité de l'image du corps et des représentations de l'inconscient enfouies chez chacun. Les traces mnésiques des traumatismes sont peu analysées à partir des processus de jeu bien que la construction du jeu et les récits associés en livrent des traces. Les recherches actuelles concernant l'autisme et le grand âge en traduisent des approfondissements. L'éclairage apporté par cette étude historique et épistémologique contribue à préciser l'évolution de l'analyse des épreuves de jeu centrée sur l'étude de l'investissement de l'espace et du temps. Penser les dispositifs diagnostiques et thérapeutiques pertinents à partir de cet éclairage augure de futures recherches. The objective of this article consists in presenting the historical and epistemological analysis of the various psychological currents at the origin of the creation of the various play-based projective tests during the 20th century in Europe. The historical and conceptual sources of these proofs being fragmentary, an analysis of the archives proved necessary in order to grasp the nature of their differences and their common elements. The psychodynamic analysis of the child's motives for playing, along with their traces in the adolescent and in the adult, make it possible to think about the different modes of apprehension of the analysis of play according to the tests' creators. The different objectives of these creators are analyzed in order to perceive the theoretical background that motivated their creations. The presentation of the Scenotest to autistic children and the various interpretative possibilities led me to return to the historical sources of the different contexts of the creation of play-based tests: The World Test, The Village Test, The Imaginary Village Test, The Scenotest. The quest for expression through play is constantly questioned according to different concepts in order to access humans' modes of psychic and perceptual functioning. However, we can observe common elements in the approach to the investment of space and time, which we propose to analyze. The updating of the links between the various creators and researchers leads to an examination of a shared foundation for the various play-based projective tests under discussion, differences in treatment of the material, as well as their implementation. The contribution for each version of the play tests is recorded in the analysis of the diversification of methods. The results attest to a common goal centered on the spatial treatment of constructions and what they reveal of the unconscious of each one as well as their links to the collective. Admittedly, research projects take on different colors depending on the creators. There is no shared method: each creator deploys his personal method of analyzing the creation of individual and collective living spaces, circulation spaces. However, we have grouped together several common elements: - None of the test creators make a link with Freudian infantile sexuality. - The focus is on the action of the game, which is used to decipher the qualities of constructions, even strategies to distribute the constructions. - The observation and analysis of the modes of projection of spatial representations are common. However, the motor expression of affect is not noted as an index of psychic economy. The qualities of the affects present in the modes of assembly of the constructions, from the child to the adult, are not analyzed. - The superposition of the diagnostic and therapeutic approach is one of the common elements; the same tools are used in different settings. - No creator mentions the quality of the environment and the major traumatic upheavals, as well as their traces, to which the population was subjected during this period of the 20th century. Jung's works are frequently quoted and taken up as a basis for reflections in these two frameworks; the influence of Jungian theories appears relatively extensive at this time. The memory traces left by the traumas linked to the two World Wars are little taken into account among populations who were exposed to their damage, although the games reveal traces of it. Current research on autism and old age reflects ongoing in-depth studies. A reflection comes up several times in the writings of G. von Staabs that also crosses the two fields concerned by the Scenotest, that of psychotherapy and diagnostic investigation. The reference to construction is interesting to remember, in this period of destruction of the environment; on the contrary, the game and the analysis of its free associativity in children are left in the shadows. The work of Monika Boekholt concerning the Scenotest has made it possible to present a new method of interpreting acting processes by favoring the analysis of the different modes of representation of the body in thought, from perceptual sensory traces to the work of primary and secondary identifications. During our research with children and adolescents with autism using the Scenotest, we were surprised by the attention paid by the patients to the elements to be built which, are immediately invested in building a double bottom and/or reinforcing the edges of the playing area. This historical study sheds light on the new fields of epistemological and therapeutic research, which could be useful in designing relevant diagnostic and therapeutic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L'objectif de cet article est de proposer une liste de normes et indicateurs Rorschach spécifiques de la population périnatale permettant d'appréhender avec précision les mouvements psychiques survenant au cours de la grossesse. La présentation du Rorschach a été proposée à un échantillon populationnel représentatif de 54 femmes primipares française enceintes. À l'appui des procédés d'analyse et de cotation de l'École de Paris, les normes quantitatives provenant de l'analyse du psychogramme, du choix des planches et des indicateurs de mentalisation ont été comparées à celles de la population générale. À l'exception du F+% et du H%, l'ensemble des données normatives de la population périnatale est significativement différent de celles provenant de la population générale (p.005). Au niveau qualitatif, l'interprétation des données obtenues souligne la présence de mécanismes d'inhibitions majeurs associés à une stase du fonctionnement préconscient. Les données normatives Rorschach de la population périnatale devraient être spécifiquement utilisées pour l'étude et l'accompagnement de cette population. Elles permettent également une compréhension plus fine des modifications psychiques intervenant au cours de la grossesse. The perinatal period is a maturation phase characterised by the appearance of a radical psychological and identity crisis, little studied by projective methods, in particular the Rorschach inkblot test. The objective of this article is to offer a list of Rorschach norms and indicators adapted to the perinatal population. This is to comprehend the psychological modifications occurring during pregnancy. The projective Rorschach inkblot test was presented to a representative sample of 54 pregnant primiparous French women. Based on the scoring and analysis methods of the Parisian School, the quantitative norms from the analysis of the psychogram, the chosen cards, and the mentalization indicators were compared to those of the general population. With the exception of F +% and H%, all the normative data for the perinatal population are significantly different from those related to the general population (p.005). On a qualitative level, the interpretation of the data highlights the presence of major inhibition mechanisms, associated with a preconscious functioning stasis. The normative data in Rorschach of the perinatal population should be specifically used for the study and psychological support devoted to this population. It also allows a better understanding of the feminine psychologic modifications during pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the perceptions about community‐based mental healthcare centers and nurses who offered services for patients with schizophrenia. Design and Methods: This qualitative study was conducted on 15 patients who are diagnosed with schizophrenia and received services in two community‐based mental health care centers in Turkey. Findings: Three themes emerged regarding the perceptions about nurses, including perceived patient–nurse relationships, perceived personal features of nurses, and feelings about nurses. Five themes appeared concerning the perceptions about the community‐based mental health care centers, including participation motivation, perceived care, services for treatment follow‐up and adherence, services for social functioning and motivation, and services for rehabilitation and productivity. Practical Implications: Patients with schizophrenia had positive perceptions about the nurses and the centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested a tool that could reveal children's attitudes toward unpopular nonhuman animals through a content analysis of constructed clipart scenes arranged and described by elementary students. Pictures were analyzed for clipart choices, pictorial themes, themes of attitudes toward nonhuman animals, and other components of verbalized statements. Most (79%) students created scenes showing humans standing surrounded by animals. Boys made more statements concerning weapons, traps, or poison and about performing violent actions against animals than girls. Girls made more statements about liking animals than boys. Ecologistic, naturalistic, humanistic, moralistic, and aesthetic themes (displaying "feminine" attitudes) were more common in the female participants' verbalizations, while scientistic, utilitarian, dominionistic, negativistic, and neutralistic themes (displaying "masculine" attitudes) occurred more frequently in the male explanations. Both genders exhibited similar levels of "feminine" attitudes, but boys exhibited more "masculine" attitudes than girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorder in college students. The traditional screening method for is psychological measurements or scales, but social desirability can cause students to mask their thoughts, and an auxiliary projective test may be needed. This study was designed to measure the validity of applying human figure drawing (HFD) test as an auxiliary tool for depression screening in this population. Methods: The HFD test was administered to 113 clinical participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 97 healthy college students with self-rating depression scale scores <50. Correlation analysis, chi-square tests, and logistic regression were conducted to identify specific drawing features that associated with depression and could differentiate between the clinical and control subjects. ROC curve was also implemented to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy. Results: Eleven drawing features were significantly related to depression based on the chi-square test results and seven drawing features were associated with depression based on correlation analysis. After logistic regression by controlling gender and age, three drawing features were associated with depression: shaded eyes, drawing clothes in detail, and drawing other personal belongings. Further, drawing clothes in detail and drawing other personal belongings were two significant variables in ROC curve analysis. Conclusion: Logistic regression showed that shaded eyes, drawing clothes in detail and drawing other personal belongings were significant drawing features. Individuals with depression will have less energy to put extra effort into drawing and are less likely to have detailed drawings. And the shading of eyes may represent that depressive individuals have a low willingness to communicate and tend to isolate themselves. The results indicated that Human Figure Drawing could be used as an auxiliary tool in college students' depression screening. Further, the ROC curve analysis showed low discrimination of single drawing features, suggesting that the application of Human Figure Drawing should be considered as a whole instead of focusing on the single drawing feature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In relation to the admissibility of evidence obtained using projective personality tests arose in F v. Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatam (2018). The Court of Justice of the European Union has held that an expert's report can only be accepted if it is based on the international scientific community's standards, but has refrained from stipulating what these standards are. It appears timely for European psychologists to decide what standards should be applied to determine whether or not a test is appropriate for psycholegal use. We propose standards and then apply them to the Rorschach because it was used in this case and is an exemplar of projective tests. We conclude that the Rorschach does not meet the proposed standards and that psychologists should abstain from using it in legal proceedings even in the absence of a clear judicial prohibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveDepression is one of the most prevalent mental disorder in college students. The traditional screening method for is psychological measurements or scales, but social desirability can cause students to mask their thoughts, and an auxiliary projective test may be needed. This study was designed to measure the validity of applying human figure drawing (HFD) test as an auxiliary tool for depression screening in this population.MethodsThe HFD test was administered to 113 clinical participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 97 healthy college students with self-rating depression scale scores

Life history strategy represents individual variation in the degree to which bioenergetic resources are allocated toward growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Individual differences in life history strategies are thought to underlie many of the individual differences studied in Psychology. It was hypothesized that responses on the Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development are partially reflective of an individual's life history strategy. This hypothesis was tested in three studies, each representing a different level of analysis. The results of Study 1 suggest near unity between ego-level and life history strategy at the conceptual level. In Study 2 a moderate association between rated ego-level and rated life history strategy was found. Additional analyses showed that this association remained when controlling for verbal IQ and that developmental change in each construct was correlated. In Study 3, it was found that responses to the sentence stems could be used directly to assess life history strategy. Combined, the results add to the evidence that responses on projective tests using a sentence stem format are associated with life history strategy. Future research could focus on identifying and constructing sentence stems that provide the maximum information about an individual's life history strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychiatric morbidity is high in children with unexplained chronic pain and thus needs to be assessed and treated. Unexplained pain symbolizes emotional distress and conflicts in children. The most common somatic symptoms are headache, abdominal pain, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Aim: The aim of this case series is to qualitatively analyze the responses obtained on projective tests and intervention strategies employed in children with unexplained pain symptoms. Materials and Methods: Our cases included a total of 12 children and adolescents who were referred to us from the pediatric department for complaints of unexplained pain symptoms for a period of at least 6 months. The investigations done for these children were reportedly normal. After the initial rapport and initial intake, the children underwent projective testing. The projective tests used were Children apperception test, Thematic Apperception Test and Sentence Completion test. Results: The findings observed were conflict with primary caregivers, over-involvement and overly critical parents, sibling rivalry and intrapersonal conflicts. Intervention strategies primarily focused on psychoeducation, addressing secondary gain, parents session to address their relationship with the child and cognitive behavioral strategies as applicable to the case. Conclusion: Children with unexplained pain symptoms require detailed history taking and psychological evaluation. Projective tests facilitate conflict identification and early intervention to address psychological factors.

En appui sur les données issues d'une vaste recherche médico-psychopathologique proposée à des jeunes filles atteintes d'une agénésie utéro-vaginale — syndrome de Rokitansky ou Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) — notre travail propose l'analyse psychodynamique de la valeur et de la fonction pour l'économie psychosomatique d'une réaction fréquente à l'annonce diagnostique : le développement d'un désordre alimentaire de type prise de poids chez 4 patientes sur 40. La mise en perspective de l'analyse de deux cas de patientes permet d'affiner la compréhension du sens de cette émergence alimentaire dont nous faisons l'hypothèse qu'elle constitue à la fois une modalité défensive signalant les impasses du processus de construction du féminin mais aussi possiblement un levier de transformation psychique de ses incidences traumatiques. Quarante jeunes femmes MRKH âgées de 19 à 34 ans (avec un âge moyen de 25 ans ½) ont été rencontrées. La recherche leur a été proposée de 2 à 17 ans après leur annonce diagnostique et le travail clinique a consisté en une analyse rétrospective de leur expérience traumatique adolescente. Le récit des patientes a été recueilli à l'aide d'un entretien clinique à visée de recherche non directif. Deux épreuves projectives (Rorschach et Thematic Apperception Test – TAT) leur ont également été proposées pour appréhender plus finement les modalités de leur fonctionnement psychique. Les données des entretiens font l'objet d'une analyse clinique thématique ; les protocoles du Rorschach et du TAT sont analysés selon la méthode d'interprétation de l'École Française référée à la théorie psychanalytique du fonctionnement psychique. Le matériel issu des rencontres avec deux patientes diagnostiquées à l'âge de 17 ans et ayant présenté dans la suite de cette annonce une prise de poids de 10 kg est ici comparé de manière approfondie. Le repérage de contrastes en termes de problématiques et de niveaux d'élaboration entre l'entretien et les protocoles projectifs est saisissant pour chaque patiente. À travers l'analyse de l'entretien, le symptôme alimentaire de la patiente 1 paraît survenir dans un contexte psychique où l'intériorité féminine semble irreprésentable. Les protocoles projectifs révèlent à l'inverse l'accès à un travail du féminin conflictuel et symbolisé. De même, le discours de la patiente 2 sur son symptôme est à première vue bien plus élaboré que celui de la patiente 1 puisque celle-ci établit un lien subjectif entre le renoncement au projet de maternité impliqué par l'annonce du MRKH et la dimension compensatoire procurée par la prise de poids. Pourtant, le contraste offert par les tests projectifs dont les productions traduisent au contraire les fragilités identitaires et une insuffisante symbolisation du sexuel témoigne de la valeur défensive de l'excès de symbolisation de son discours manifeste dans l'entretien. Ces contrastes amènent à envisager le remplissage alimentaire comme une tentative de traitement d'une sexualité féminine déjà conflictuelle voire en impasse avant la découverte du MRKH. Ses accents traumatiques sont réactualisés et potentialisés à la faveur de l'annonce diagnostique. Les différents niveaux de problématiques repérés peuvent cohabiter chez une même femme, qu'il s'agisse d'un féminin ni construit ni intégré, d'un impossible investissement du corps interne ou d'un contre-investissement de l'impossible maternité. Dans ce contexte, l'étiopathogénie de la prise de poids qui succède à l'annonce du diagnostic est pour chaque jeune fille singulière mais toujours en lien avec un féminin et/ou un maternel atteint. En conclusion, si la prise de poids qui suit le diagnostic traduit une entrave voire une impasse (éventuellement ponctuelle) du traitement psychique de ses effets, cette annonce médicale à l'adolescence peut constituer une nouvelle chance pour ces jeunes filles, celle d'un après-coup à la valeur potentiellement mutative. Based on data from a vast medical-psychopathological research study proposed to girls suffering from utero-vaginal agenesis — Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH) —, the value and the function of a frequently occurring (10%) bulimic disorder (with weight gain) at the announcement of the diagnosis are analyzed from a psychodynamic perspective. The psychic implications of the diagnosis and its consequences in terms of the modalities of the sessions with these adolescents, alongside genital sexuality, are underlined. The analysis of two cases studies, put into perspective, allows us to refine our understanding of the meaning of this food-related symptom. Therefore, this could both constitute a defensive modality signaling the impasses of the process of construction of the feminine as it could be a lever of psychic transformation of the traumatic repercussions of this process. Forty young MRKH women aged 19 to 34 (with an average age of 25 ½) are met. The research is offered to them from two to 17 years after their diagnostic announcement; clinical reflection consists of a retrospective analysis of their adolescent traumatic experience. The patients' stories are collected using a clinical research non-directive interview. Two projective methods — Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) — are also proposed to better understand the modalities of their psychic functioning at the time of the clinical encounters. Interview data are subjected to a thematic clinical analysis. The protocols of the Rorschach and of the TAT are analyzed according to the method of interpretation of the French School, which refers to the psychoanalytic theory of psychic functioning. The material, resulting from sessions with two patients diagnosed with MRKH at the age of 17 and having gained 10 kg in the aftermath of this announcement, is compared in a thorough way. The contrasts — in terms of problematics and of levels of elaboration — between the interview and the projective protocols are striking for each patient. With the analysis of the interview, the bulimic symptom of the first patient occurs in a psychic context where feminine interiority seems unrepresentable. On the contrary, projective protocols reveal access to conflicting and symbolic feminine work. In the same way, the second patient's discourse about her symptom is at first sight much more elaborate than that of the first patient; she establishes a subjective link between the renunciation of maternity inherent in the announcement of MRKH and the compensatory dimension provided by weight gain. However, the discrepancy with the projective tests is surprising in this second patient. Indeed, her productions reflect fragilities in her identity and an insufficient symbolization of the sexual that testify to the defensive value of the excessive symbolization of her speech, evident in the interview. These contrasts lead us to consider binge-eating as an attempt to treat an already conflicting female sexuality, even in deadlock, before the discovery of MRKH. Its traumatic accents are updated and potentiated with the diagnostic announcement. The different levels of identified problems can coexist in a same woman, whether it is a feminine that has neither been constructed nor integrated; an impossible investment of the internal body; or a counter-investment of an impossible maternity. In this context, the etiopathogeny of weight gain subsequent to the announcement of the diagnosis is unique for each young woman, but always in connection with an affected or wounded feminine and/or maternal. In conclusion, if the weight gain following the diagnosis reflects a hindrance or even an impasse (possibly punctual) of the psychic treatment of its effects, this medical announcement in adolescence can constitute, afterwards, a new chance for these girls, with a potentially mutative value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L'objectif de l'étude est d'explorer ce que vivent les adolescents atteints de déficiences motrices avec troubles cognitifs associés, en mettant le focus sur les processus dépressifs maturatifs ou pathologiques. Six adolescents présentant une déficience motrice avec des troubles cognitifs associés et accueillis en institut d'éducation motrice en internat ont participé à l'étude. Différents outils ont été utilisés : un entretien semi-directif, les planches de la version pour adolescent de l'épreuve projective le Dynamique Personnelle et Images (Perron, 1969), analysées selon la grille de cotation élaborée par l'école de Paris et selon la grille d'élaboration de la position dépressive d'Emmanuelli, ainsi que l'Échelle Composite de Dépression (Berndt, Kaiser et Castro, 1999). Les résultats mettent en évidence la présence d'affects dépressifs, d'une souffrance psychique, ainsi qu'un sentiment d'impuissance et une insécurité affective. L'inhibition et une recherche d'étayage émergent chez ces adolescents qui sont en difficulté pour mobiliser leurs ressources. L'avenir est problématique pour eux. Ils sont souvent dans une grande solitude, échangent peu avec leurs pairs et ne trouvent de soutien que chez les professionnels. Cette étude exploratoire montre la nécessité de mieux prendre en compte leurs souffrances psychiques, et de les accompagner dans l'élaboration de la position dépressive. Il s'agit aussi de favoriser le déploiement de leurs relations sociales. The aim of the present study is to investigate the experience of adolescent life in young people affected by physical disability and cognitive disorders, in order to focus on the maturative or pathological depressive processes. This qualitative and exploratory study explores the subjective experience of these adolescents and aims to compensate for the lack of research into the understanding of depressive affects present in some young people with a disability at this particular period of their life. Six adolescents with physical disability and cognitive disorders (with cerebral palsy or progressive neuromuscular disease) in the care of a special school (Institut d'Éducation Motrice - IEM), a boarding school, participated in this study. Based on an inductive approach, tools used are identical to those used in clinical practice. A semi-directive interview, the DPI (Perron, 1969), a projective test on the development of self-image, and the MDI-C (Castro, 1999), providing data on elements from the depressive register and their signification, were used. The results indicate the emergence of depressive feelings, a psychological distress, a sense of powerlessness and an insecure attachment. The results indicate also that these adolescents present an inhibition and search for scaffolding because they have difficulty to mobilize their resources. Projection in the future is also complex for them. They often have great loneliness, and exchanges with their peers, other adolescents, are infrequent. They only find support from professionals, not from other young people, whereas in adolescence the peer group is normally a resource. This study offers clinical perspectives in caring for young people and their family. It shows the need to take more into account the intrapsychic life of these adolescents, to detect their resources to help themselves and better take into account their psychics suffering. It is also necessary to help them to elaborate on their depressive position. Accompanied, the depressive affects can take a structuring dimension and can develop these adolescents' abilities to talk about themselves, to think of themselves as a unique and autonomous person. It is also a question of favoring the deployment of their social relations. The methodology used confirms the need to conduct clinical research with this population, to understand better what is at stake at this period, and the importance of depressive affects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes to show how the use of the drawing of the home can help differentiate two older populations, with or without cognitive impairment as part of research to identify early signs of Alzheimer's disease. The projective test of the house is complementary to the cognitive assessment. Two groups of older adults are compared: an experimental group with 24 people aged 67 with cognitive impairment and a control group with 36 people aged 71.5 years with normal cognitive aging. Analysis of the house drawings revealed significant differences in the realization of the drawings between the control group (CG) and the experimental group (EG). The characteristics of the drawings of elderly people with cognitive impairment show more difficult access to imagination and a feeling of insecurity as of the first memory impairment. This article puts the body at the center of psychoanalytic work and explores the relationship between the psychic and bodily dimensions of elderly subjects using a projective spatiography test. This projective tool allowed us to collect information on the psychic functioning of the elderly.

Résumé L'élaboration imaginaire et symbolique de l'agressivité interne, ainsi que de l'angoisse qui l'accompagne, joue un rôle très important dans la quête d'identité de l'adolescence moyenne. Différentes perspectives théoriques s'accordent à souligner la différence entre l'agressivité saine, au sens d'affirmation de soi, et la violence aveugle, qu'elle soit dirigée contre soi-même ou contre autrui. Le test de Rorschach peut être un instrument privilégié pour l'étude de l'orientation et du niveau d'élaboration de la violence interne. Nous présentons une étude comparative entre trois sous-groupes cliniques d'adolescents souffrant d'anxiété, de troubles de la conduite ou s'étant livré à des passages à l'acte suicidaires (N total = 60). La recherche se base, d'un côté, sur une étude comparative des psychogrammes, avec utilisation des statistiques non paramétriques, d'un autre côté, sur l'analyse qualitative détaillée du style d'expression dans les trois sous-groupes, avec le but d'identifier des configurations typiques d'élaboration de la pulsion agressive. Nos résultats sont illustrés au moyen de vignettes cliniques contrastées. De l'étude se dégagent quelques pistes innovantes pour la recherche diagnostique, ainsi que pour l'évaluation des psychothérapies. Abstract Background The symbolic and imaginary elaboration of internal aggressiveness, as well as of coexisting anxiety, has a very important function in the identity quest of middle adolescence. Various theoretical approaches underline the differences between sound aggressiveness, in the sense of self-assertion, and blind violence, be it directed against oneself or the other. We present the theoretical perspectives of psychoanalysis and Ego Psychology, of the humanistic school, of the sociologic and systemic tradition, and of the cognitive and developmental comprehension of identity quest and elaboration of aggressive drives in adolescence. According to clinical experience and research results, the Rorschach test can be a well-suited tool for the study of orientation and mode of elaboration of internal violence. Methods We present a comparative study of 3 clinical subgroups of adolescents characterized by anxiety, conduct disorders or suicidal behavior (total N = 60), based on the analysis of their Rorschach protocols. The study comprehends the quantitative comparison of the psycho grams, using non-parametric statistical procedures, and a detailed qualitative analysis of the expressive style in the 3 subgroups. The stylistic and expressive specificities of each subgroup are illustrated with the help of contrasted clinical vignettes. Results The quantitative analysis showed that, for the most important indicators, the subgroup characterized by suicidal attempts is located between the subgroups characterized by anxiety and conduct disorders, with the exception of the form %, where suicidal subjects do not distinguish themselves from the subgroup of anxious adolescents. The qualitative analysis allowed analyzing typical configurations of adjustment to the aggressive drive in the responses with human and animal content. The specificities of expression in the three clinical subgroups indicated new perspectives for their psychotherapeutic follow-up. Conclusion Some innovative tracks for diagnostic research, as well as for the evaluation of psychotherapies, come out of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tells the story of an anthropologist and a research subject who encountered each other in the middle of the 20th century on an island in the southwestern Pacific. In the midst of an intensive spate of evidence gathering for his dissertation, anthropologist Melford Spiro noted that one of his would-be interlocutors, a man named Tarev – notable for failing all of his psychological tests – still managed to contribute a different form of evidence: if his views could not be amalgamated in numbers via test scores (and thus contribute directly to Spiro's data set), they could still be rendered as a case. Tarev's personality study, 'A Psychotic in the South Seas', counted as one of many cases contributing to a broad, worldwide effort to explore the meaning of suffering – specifically psychological illnesses – in non-Western cultures. This article examines Tarev's rejected test-response 'data' and the ways in which his answers did not fit the epistemological and geopolitical frameworks that provoked them. The encounter between anthropologist and interlocutor, today, allows an investigation into how mid-20th-century scholars amassed ambitious data sets meant to revolutionize the sciences that dealt with human beings as psycho-social entities. What sorts of data made it into their archives and what sorts did not? How was the data of happiness, sadness and other fleeting emotional states collected from whole islands newly under US naval occupation? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Every test, whether academic or non-academic, induces an 'affect' in subjects and completion of it also produces an affect, may it be positive or negative. The projective tests are peculiar in their nature for the purpose of personality assessment and may also have a temporary or everlasting impact on the respondent's affect at the conscious level. This paper tries to investigate the affect of job applicants in armed forces on completion of projective tests. Studies have shown that women are perceived to express emotions more than men but that there were little differences in the perception of men and women's emotional experience. Aim: The aim of the study was to examine gender difference in the affect of 275 job applicants (110 male and 65 female) after completing the battery of projective tests for personality assessment in armed forces. Materials and Methods: PANAS has been used for determining the positive affect (PA), which reflects the pleasurable engagement and subjective experience of happiness whereas the negative affect (NA) subscale measures the level of subjective distress and unpleased engagement. Results: Female's average score (4.66) was greater than male (4.45) score on the 'attentive' dimension of positive affect. This difference was significant t (273) = - 2.08, P < 0.05. Male's average score (4.47) was greater than female (4.24) score on the 'active' dimension of positive affect. Conclusion: This difference was significant t (273) = 2.14, P < 0.05. Among the dimensions of the negative affect, none of them have significant difference between male and female. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the personality characteristics of bipolar patients by using Projective Personality Test; Rorschach Inkblot Test, Thematic Apperception Test (T.A.T.), House-Tree-Person Test (H.T.P.), and Sentence Completion Test (S.C.T). Material and Methods: This study used purposive sampling to select 11 bipolar patients. Inclusion criteria were age above 20-45 years and patient willing to participate in an interview using four types of test. The data were collected from March to May, 2013. Quality data were summarized by percentage and frequency. Moreover, results were interpreted in separate domains, namely personality trait, emotion, thought, and interrelationship including defense mechanism. Results: In this study, patient samples were more female than male. Most patients were 20-29 years old. Patients suffer from depression and 8 of the 11 patients wanted to commit suicide. The results from personality traits showed that patients were immature, dependent, unstable, depressant, anxious, stressful, and lacking in confidence to make a decision. Moreover, patients had different thoughts on the same issue. (There were emotions about anxious, depression, negative and positive thinking and good interrelationships). That is to say, patients initially had negative thinking but later turned to positive thinking called “Ambivalence.” This behavior is consistent with a defense mechanisms (compensation); patients will substitute their negative or unsolved thought with positive thought. Conclusion: Finally, the results from four types of testing show consistency in the same way. Patients had different thoughts on the same issue.

Background Psychological assessment is not commonly performed nor easily accepted by coloproctological patients. Our aim was to evaluate the psychological component of coloproctological disorders using uncommon tools. Methods The 21-Item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale and the Pescatori projective test were applied to coloproctological outpatients of the Gastroenterology Department of our hospital as well as to healthy volunteers. Results Seventy patients (median age 47 years, 22 male) divided in 4 groups (functional constipation, constipated irritable bowel syndrome, benign anorectal disease and perianal Crohn's disease) and 52 healthy volunteers (age 45 years, 18 male) completed the tests. Proctological patients showed higher scores of depression (P<0.001), anxiety (P<0.001), and stress (P<0.001) compared to healthy participants. Compared to the control group, patients with functional constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and perianal Crohn's disease maintained the highest scores in all subscales (P<0.05), while patients with benign anorectal disease only had higher anxiety and stress (P<0.001) scores. The patients' also showed lower scores in the Pescatori projective test (P=0.012). A weak association between the projective test and the depression subscale was found (P=0.05). Conclusion Proctological patients had higher scores of depression, anxiety and stress and lower scores in the Pescatori projective test compared to healthy controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pattern of social connection is a parameter that is often correlated with the life quality of the individual. Its development can be influenced by a large array of factors, among which, according to literature data, the attachment type is highly important. Objective: The current study aimed to identify the relationship between the attachment type, on one hand, and the age of motherhood and socio-demographic variables, on the other hand. It also evaluated the potential usefulness of the Draw-a-Person (DAP) projective test in the early diagnose of attachment dysfunctional types in young and adult mothers. Method: The study design was crosss-sectional. The study group comprised 60 women, 13 to 43 years old (M = 21,18, SD = 6,37), who gave birth recently (less than a month before) and agreed to participate. Their sociodemographic data were collected through a structured interview. Subsequently, they answered to the Adult Attachment Scale and completed the DAP test. The data analysis was run both at the descriptive and the statistic level, the latter consisting of t-tests, Pearson's correlation and linear regression. Results: Dysfunctional (especially dismissive-avoidant) attachment type was found to be more frequent in teenage mothers. A number of socio-demographic factors (such as rural background and the structure of maternal family) and graphic characteristics (e.g. left-oriented drawings, continuous outline), were also associated to early motherhood. Several DAP markers (e.g. for uncertainty and body integrity) were statistically associated to dysfunctional attachment. Conclusions: Our findings are arguments for running further research, oriented towards the in-depth exploration of the risk factors associated to early motherhood and dysfunctional attachment. The early identification of these cases (also via the DAP test) can facilitate prevention or, if needed, psychotherapeutic intervention. Addressing them in a timewise, responsible and adequate manner can prevent their negative influence on the child's psycho-emorional status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent testing for some groups of children is difficult because of their lacking of attention or trustworthy to the psychologist. Therefore, drawing for intelligence testing has been easily used since it is simple, unthreatening and interesting. Drawing test can be divided into intelligence and personality test. Although both tests are different based on theory and practice, they show the same pictures of human. Only one time for drawing human picture with projective technique can produce both personality signs and intelligence quotient obtained from projective drawing compared to objective drawing in group aged 13-13 years and 11 months (p=0.001) 15-15 years and 11 months (p=0.01) and greater than. or equal to 16 years (p=0.04) were found. In conclusion, projective human figure drawing may have the possibility to be used for screening IQ in children. In practice, however, due to the significant different IQ found in older children group we recommended practitioners to assess - IQ from projective human drawing figure interpreted by Nagleiri’s criteria should recognize the overestimation of interpreted IQ in this children group.