Defense mechanisms of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders

- Сторожук, О.М. (orcid.org/0000-0003-1999-2209) (2025) Defense mechanisms of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders Doctoral thesis, Інститут психології імені Г. С. Костюка.

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Abstract

Storozhuk O. M. Defense mechanisms of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders. – Qualifying scientific work with the rights of a manuscript. The thesis for the PhD degree in 05 – Social and Behavioural Sciences, specialty 053 – Psychology. – G.S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 2025. In the dissertation, a theoretical generalization and a new solution to the problem of psychological defense mechanisms of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders is presented, which is based on the provisions of the psychodynamic approach, the concept of psychological defenses of personality, the theory of coping behavior, and modern ideas about the functioning of families raising children with ASD. The understanding of parental attitude as a complex multidimensional psychological system is substantiated, which is formed under conditions of chronic stress and is mediated by specific mechanisms of psychological defense that perform both an adaptive and a maladaptive function. The main purpose of the study is the theoretical substantiation and empirical study of the types of defense mechanisms of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders, as well as the determination of their significance for the formation of styles of interaction with the child and the construction of a system of psychological support for families. The achievement of this purpose was facilitated by the solution of a complex of tasks, within which: a thorough theoretical-methodological analysis of the problem of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders in modern studies was carried out; the content of the concept of parental attitude in the conditions of raising an autistic child was clarified; psychological factors that determine the formation of adaptive and maladaptive forms of parent-child interaction were analyzed; the structure of parental attitude toward children with ASD was substantiated and its typology was determined on the basis of the integration of indicators of psychological defense mechanisms, personality traits, and coping behavior of parents; a complex of psychodiagnostic methods adequate to the purpose and tasks of the study was selected and tested, which made it possible to carry out a multidimensional analysis of personal characteristics of parents raising children with ASD; psychological predictors of the formation of maladaptive forms of attitude associated with denial, avoidance, regression, emotional symbiosis, and rejection of the problem of the child’s disease were established; characteristics of more adaptive types of parental attitude oriented toward acceptance, cooperation, and rehabilitation activity were determined; on the basis of the results of the theoretical-empirical study, a correctional program of psychological support for parents was developed and tested, aimed at awareness and modification of maladaptive defense mechanisms, development of productive coping strategies, and optimization of parent-child relationships, the effectiveness of which was confirmed by the results of repeated diagnostic examination and analysis of the dynamics of psychological indicators. Scientific searches and achievements are covered in three sections of the dissertation work. In the first section – “Theoretical-methodological foundations of the study of the features of psychological defenses of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders” – an analysis of modern domestic and foreign approaches to the problem of autism, the features of mental development of children with ASD, the specifics of the functioning of the family system under conditions of chronic stress was carried out. The concepts of parental attitude, psychological defense mechanisms, and coping behavior were analyzed, their significance for understanding adaptive and maladaptive processes in parents of children with ASD was substantiated. It is shown that raising a child with autism spectrum disorders creates conditions of prolonged psycho-emotional tension, within which psychological defense mechanisms perform the function of stabilizing the emotional state of parents, but at the same time can distort the perception of the child, their capabilities, and needs. The necessity of a comprehensive approach to the study of parental attitude taking into account unconscious regulators of behavior is substantiated. In the second section – “Empirical study of the development of psychological defenses of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders” – the design of the empirical work is substantiated, its purpose, tasks, and stages are defined, the methods of empirical research are substantiated, to identify the specifics of parental attitude an author’s questionnaire was developed, which was developed as a tool for recording the semantic parameters of attitude and behavioral manifestations in interaction with the child, the procedural aspects of its use and reliability indicators are presented, and the algorithm of statistical data processing is also described; a detailed description of the contingent of respondents is presented: 93 parents participated in the study (average age in the range of 25–53 years), of them 90 mothers and 3 fathers; the educational level and socio-demographic characteristics are presented; parameters related to children are outlined: the age of children is 3–16 years, the fact of the presence of an ASD diagnosis is confirmed документально, which creates a basis for correct interpretation of the obtained regularities both in the psychological and in the applied (psychocorrectional) dimensions; the results of factor, correlational, and regression analyses are presented, which made it possible to move from fragmentary indicators to a holistic typology; six generalized factors of parental attitude are singled out, which reflect different vectors of interaction with a child with ASD: “Forced socialization”, “Acceptance and care”, “Cooperation”, “Infantilization of parents”, “Emotional symbiosis”, “Rejection of the disease”. It is shown that these dimensions are not isolated: they are systemically connected with certain configurations of defenses and copings, as well as with characteristics of actual abilities (in the terms of WIPPF); on the basis of the combination of factor indicators and the results of regression analysis it is established that maladaptive forms of attitude statistically gravitate toward strategies of avoidance, denial, regression, as well as toward patterns of emotional symbiosis or infantilization, which limits the child’s autonomization and reduces the effectiveness of rehabilitation interaction; it is revealed that adaptive types are associated with cooperation, acceptance, support of the child’s initiative, and constructive rehabilitation orientation, which reflects greater coherence between emotional attitude, behavioral practices, and conscious coping efforts; it is proved that parents’ self-report descriptions are not always sufficient for understanding the real character of their attitude: deeper components manifest themselves through a systemic analysis of defense mechanisms and coping strategies, which in fact “organize” parental reactions in stressogenic conditions of raising a child with ASD. The obtained typology creates an empirical basis for the next section of the dissertation, where logically the task arises of developing an address psychocorrectional program aimed at transforming maladaptive defense-coping patterns and supporting more productive forms of parental attitude. In the third section – “Types of mechanisms of psychological defense in parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders” – a transition from the description of the phenomenon and empirically identified regularities to the construction and testing of a practice-oriented program of psychological help to parents aimed at the transformation of maladaptive defense and coping patterns in the system “parents — child with ASD” was carried out. In the section, the theoretical-methodological foundations of correction are substantiated: the target mechanisms of influence are defined (reduction of the rigidity of psychological defenses, optimization of coping strategies, correction of the emotional component of attitude toward the child, formation of a more realistic and cooperative position of parents); the principles of building the program are outlined (structuredness, safe therapeutic space, resourcefulness, combination of psychoeducation with experiential and behavioral working-through, gradualness of changes and consolidation of skills in everyday life), as well as criteria of effectiveness both at the level of self-report and at the level of indirect indicators (dynamics of defenses/copings as “deeper” markers of attitude). The central content of the section is the description of a correctional training program for parents of children with ASD, presented as a holistic system of classes with a clear logic “from emotional stabilization and acceptance — to constructive interaction and rehabilitation orientation”. The program is implemented in a group format and is рассчитана for 1.5 months with a frequency of one meeting per week lasting 4 hours. Its thematic blocks consistently cover: formation of motivation for changes and a working alliance, normalization of parents’ experiences; psychoeducation regarding the specifics of ASD and mechanisms of family reaction to the diagnosis; awareness of typical defense strategies (denial, avoidance, regression, symbiotic fixation, etc.) and their “price” for the child and the family system; development of skills of emotional self-regulation, reduction of anxiety and affective напряженности; training of constructive coping strategies and расширение of the repertoire of interaction with the child (cooperation, support of autonomy, realistic requirements, coherence of parental actions); meaning-value integration of experience and actualization of resources (with working-through of intra-family supports, perspectives, and limits of responsibility). The effectiveness of the program is confirmed through comparison of indicators “before/after” and analysis of statistically significant shifts according to the applied methods (including according to indicators that reflect the balance of family relationships, features of response to stress and conflict, as well as the profile of psychological defenses and copings). Precisely through such a multilevel logic (emotions → defenses/copings → interaction → family adaptation) the section argues the practical value of the developed program and its possibilities for prevention of secondary family maladaptation and support of the development of a child with ASD. The scientific novelty of the obtained results consists in the fact that: for the first time: - a holistic theoretical-empirical study of psychological defenses of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders as an independent psychological phenomenon that is formed under conditions of chronic family stress has been carried out; - features of defense mechanisms of autism spectrum disorders and the content of psychological defenses of parental attitude toward children have been revealed, their role in interaction with the child has been shown; - types of parental attitude toward children with autism spectrum disorders depending on the dominant mechanisms of psychological defense and features of parents’ coping behavior have been empirically established; - the specifics of interrelations between psychological defenses, coping strategies, and characteristics of parental attitude have been determined, which made it possible to раскрыть the psychological mechanisms of parents’ adaptation to the situation of raising a child with ASD; - the interrelation of defense mechanisms with personal features of parents, their role and significance in attitude toward the child and features of their upbringing has been established; - a program of psychological correction aimed at transforming maladaptive psychological defenses of parents and forming a more constructive, accepting parental attitude toward a child with ASD has been developed and scientifically substantiated. improved: - scientific ideas about the role of psychological defenses in the structure of parental attitude, in particular in the context of families raising children with autism spectrum disorders; - approaches to psychological analysis of parental attitude by integrating psychodynamic, stress-coping, and systemic approaches; - criteria of psychological diagnostics of the features of parental attitude toward children with ASD taking into account the intensity and direction of defense mechanisms. further developed: - state of family and clinical psychology regarding psychological factors of parents’ adaptation to raising a child with disturbances of mental development; - ideas about coping strategies of parents of children with ASD as a factor of modification of psychological defenses and a resource of optimization of parent-child relationships; - conceptual approaches to psychological support of families raising children with autism spectrum disorders in the direction of increasing psychological competence and emotional stability of parents. The theoretical significance of the study consists in deepening and уточнення of scientific ideas about psychological defenses as a component of the regulatory system of the personality of parents raising children with autism spectrum disorders. The results of the study supplement the theory of psychological defenses, child-parent relationships, and adaptation processes under conditions of chronic stress, expanding understanding of their role in the formation of styles of parental attitude and upbringing. The practical significance of the study consists in the development of an author’s questionnaire for studying parental attitude toward children with ASD and a comprehensive program of forming productive coping strategies of parents’ behavior aimed at комплексну correction of manifestations of the disease and socialization of children, as well as in the possibility of using the obtained results in the work of practical psychologists, psychotherapists, specialists of inclusive education, and centers of psychological help to families. The results of the dissertation study and the program of comprehensive psychological correction can be applied for: psychological support of parents of children with ASD; formation of productive coping strategies of parents’ behavior; prevention of rigid and maladaptive forms of parental attitude; increasing the effectiveness of correctional-developmental work with the child aimed at systemic correction of manifestations of the disease and socialization of children.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Keywords:	autism spectrum disorders; negative emotional states; uncertainty; psychological defense mechanisms; coping strategies; family system; actual abilities; personal resources; resilience; mental health; well being; psychological support; psychoeducation; psychotherapy
Subjects:	Science and knowledge. Organization. Computer science. Information. Documentation. Librarianship. Institutions. Publications > 1 Philosophy. Psychology Science and knowledge. Organization. Computer science. Information. Documentation. Librarianship. Institutions. Publications > 6 Applied Sciences. Medicine. Technology > 61 Medical sciences
Divisions:	Institute of Psychology after N.Kostiuk > Common resources institute
Depositing User:	доктор психологічних наук, завідувач лабораторії психології особистості ім. П. Р. Чамати Л.З. Сердюк
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2026 10:21
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2026 10:21
URI:	https://lib.iitta.gov.ua/id/eprint/748438

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