Projective evaluation of the personal characteristics of children diagnosed with depression and the holding function of the mother

Depression is a disease that can be seen in all ages, from infancy to old age. Psychoanalytic studies emphasize that deficits in maternal holding functions in the early mother-infant relationship are associated with the emergence of depression. This research aims to examine the personality traits of children diagnosed with depression and the holding function of the mother. Within the scope of personality traits, investment processes in thought, affect processes, impulse control, and emotional reactions, social adaptation, and object relations were examined. The sample of the study consists of 30 children aged between 10-13 who were diagnosed with depression and 30 children who were stated to have no mental or emotional difficulties. As data collection tools, Demographic information form, Behavior Rating Scale for Child Behavior Checklist and aged 6-18 (CBCL), Children's Depression Scale, and Rorschach test was used. The differences in the personality traits and holding functions of the mother in the group diagnosed with depression were compared with the normal group using the Rorschach test, and the differences were discussed. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Independent Groups t-Test were used to evaluate the differences between the responses of the two groups to the Rorschach protocols. At the same time, the relationship of these differences with the depression score of the children was examined by Pearson Correlation Analysis. The differences in the personal story characteristics of the mothers of the children in the two groups were examined with the Chi-Square test. When the statistical evaluations and the content analyses of the responses of the two groups to the cards were evaluated together, it was found that the two groups differed in terms of personality traits and holding functions of the mother, and these differences were related to the subjectively evaluated depression severity scores of the children. It was found that the variables of "psychic state during pregnancy, mother's emotional state at the first encounter with the baby and in the first year, social support and breastfeeding experience" differed significantly between the two groups in the personal story characteristics of their mothers.