Zolotova I.A. Diagnosis of the Mother's Attitude Towards a Newborn Child with a Disease

Research into the mother's attitude toward a newborn child with a disease in the early postpartum period is difficult due to the lack of valid methods. However, the issue of the relationship between the transmitted attitude toward the newborn and the characteristics of the woman's psychoemotional state is relevant.

The aim of the study was to examine the maternal attitude using the projective technique “My mother, me and my child” and to describe the correlations with the neurotic states of women.

An adapted form of the “Pregnant Woman Relationship Test” method, the Clinical Questionnaire of Neurotic States, and the projective method “My Mother, Me, and My Child” were used. The study involved 288 people or 144 mother-child dyads: 72 mother-newborn with disease dyads and 72 mother-healthy newborn dyads. Tendencies in the drawing’s characteristic of a certain attitude towards the newborn were described and correlated with the features of the mother's neurotic states.

A newborn in the arms of their mother is more often depicted by women giving birth to a child with a disease, conveying an anxious attitude towards him (r = 0.45; p < 0.01) and women with an optimal attitude towards a newborn without pathology (r = 0.53; p < 0.001). A direct correlation was found between the image of a child in the mother's arms, an optimal attitude towards a newborn with a disease and high scores on the "asthenia" scale (r = 0.41; p < 0.05). With indicators characteristic of the morbid nature of neurotic manifestations on the "vegetative disorders" scale, women tend to depict an older child (r = 0.59; p < 0.001). A characteristic feature of their drawings may also be the absence of the image of "themselves as mothers" (r = 0.51; p < 0.001) or the absence of the image of the child (r = 0.39; p < 0.05).

The projective technique not only performs a diagnostic function, but also has psychotherapeutic specificity.

Key words: attitude towards a newborn with a disease, “mother-child”, projective technique, neurotic states, asthenia, anxiety, autonomic disorders

For citation: Zolotova, I.A. (2026). Diagnosis of the Mother's Attitude Towards a Newborn Child with a Disease. New Psychological Research, No. 1, 151–166. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2026_06_01_08