Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1061-1068
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Developmental history and object relations in psychiatrically disturbed adolescent girls
D Westen, P Ludolph, MJ Block, J Wixom and FC Wiss
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1346.
This study explored empirically the relationship between developmental
history variables and several dimensions of object relations in a sample of
36 female adolescent inpatients. The results document the importance of
preoedipal experience, the relationship with the mother, and continuity of
attachments in shaping object relations. In addition, the data point to the
importance of distinguishing different dimensions of object relations, such
as the affective quality of the object world and the logic and accuracy of
attributions, which may have different developmental correlates. The
findings also suggest the impact of sexual abuse, typically a postoedipal
experience, on enduring object- relational processes.
