Evaluation of attachment representations and aggression tendencies of individuals diagnosed with psychosomatic skin disease with projective methods

The aim of this study is to evaluate the attachment representations and aggression tendencies of individuals diagnosed with psychosomatic skin diseases (urticaria, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, neurodermatitis) using projective methods. This research was conducted using the phenomenological model (pattern) as one of the qualitative research methods. Additionally, qualitative data obtained from picture analysis is converted into numerical data and utilized the quantitative evaluation method to demonstrate the distribution within the research group. The quantitative data obtained is analyzed and presented in table form by calculating frequency and percentage. The population of the study consists of individuals diagnosed with psychosomatic skin diseases residing in Istanbul. The study group consists of 53 individuals, both male and female, aged between 18 and 65, receiving treatment for psychosomatic skin diseases at the dermatology outpatient clinic of Istanbul Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital during February and April 2024. Furthermore, 55 individuals, both male and female, aged between 18 and 65 and without any diagnosis of psychosomatic skin diseases, are included in the study group as the control group. Thus, the study group comprises 108 individuals. In this qualitative study, purposive sampling is used to select participants based on the confirmatory and disconfirmatory case sampling types. The implementation section of the research is conducted face-to-face with participants under the supervision and management of the responsible researcher. Informed consent was obtained from each participant before attempting to collect research data. A demographic information form, the bird nest drawing test and a non-existent animal drawing test were used to collect data for the research. Considering the descriptive analysis and descriptive statistics (frequency analysis) findings, it has been found that adults diagnosed with psychosomatic skin disease have had more insecure attachment representations than healthy adults who are not diagnosed with psychosomatic skin disease. It is concluded that adults diagnosed with psychosomatic skin disease have higher tendencies towards aggression than healthy adults who not diagnosed with psychosomatic skin disease. In addition, it has been found that in adults diagnosed with psychosomatic skin disease, women more often show reactive aggression, while men show proactive aggression.