Foundations of Mental Health/Psychiatric Nursing

Chapter 15


Foundations of Mental Health/Psychiatric Nursing



Development of Personality




Factors Involved in Personality Development



Behavior is a learned response that develops as a result of past experiences and genetic, environmental, and psychologic factors


To protect the individual’s emotional well-being, these experiences are organized in the psyche on three different levels



1. Conscious: composed of past experiences, easily recalled


2. Subconscious: composed of material that has been pushed out of the conscious but can be recalled with some effort


3. Unconscious: contains the largest body of material; greatly influences behavior



a. This material cannot be intentionally brought back into awareness because usually it is unacceptable and painful to the individual


b. If recalled, usually it is disguised or distorted, as in dreams or slips of the tongue; however, it is still capable of producing high levels of anxiety


c. According to Freud, the personality consists of three parts: the id, ego, and superego




Formation of the Personality



Develops in overlapping stages that shade and merge together



1. Particular conflicts and tasks must be mastered during each stage of development from infancy to maturity if needs are to be met and mental health maintained/enhanced


2. Successful resolution of the conflicts and acquisition of the tasks associated with each stage is essential to development


3. If these tasks are not acquired at specific periods, the basic structure of the personality is weakened


4. Factors in each stage persist as a permanent part of the personality


5. Childhood identifications are integrated with basic drives, native endowments, and opportunities offered in social roles


6. Unresolved conflicts remain in the unconscious and may, at times, result in maladaptive behavior


7. Personality is capable of change throughout life; as one ages, there may be a decreased ability to cope


Psychodynamic theory (Freud)



1. Psychodynamic theories propose that human behavior is largely governed by motives and drives that are internal and often unconscious


2. Freud believed that development proceeds best when children’s psychosexual needs at each stage are met, but not exceeded; the stages are



a. Oral (birth to 1 year)—psychosexual needs gratified orally; unable to delay gratification; begins to develop self-concept from the responses of others


b. Anal (1 to 3 years)—bladder and bowel training occurs; this interferes with instinctual impulses; struggle of giving of self and breaking the symbiotic ties to mother; as the ties are broken, the child learns independence; struggle with toilet training creates conflict between child’s needs and parents’ desires


c. Phallic (3 to 5 years)—psychosexual energy directed to genitals (oedipal); values and rules learned from parents; guilt and self-esteem develop; incestuous desire for opposite sex parent develops and creates fear and guilt feelings; desires are repressed, and introjection and role identification with parent of the same sex occurs


d. Latency (6 to 12 years)—mastery of learning; relationships with same-sex peers develop; sexual instincts are relatively quiet


e. Genital (12 years and beyond)—period of sexual maturity in which psychosexual needs are directed toward sexual relationships; sexual activity increases; sexual identity is strengthened or attacked


Psychosocial theory (Erikson)



1. Psychosocial theory attributes development to social interactions and relationships that occur throughout the life span; failure to master a developmental stage may leave a person more susceptible to mental illness


2. Erikson believed that development results from social aims or conflicts arising from feelings, parent-child interactions, and social relationships


3. Eight major crises or conflicts need to be faced during a lifetime; each stage is marked by a struggle between two opposing tendencies, both of which are experienced by the individual; stages are



a. Trust versus mistrust (birth to 1 year)—infant develops a sense of whether the world can be trusted; learns to depend on satisfaction that is derived from attention to needs; and trust develops when needs are met; psychosocial strength—hope; failure to consistently meet the needs of the infant can lead to difficult interpersonal relationships


b. Autonomy versus shame and doubt (1 to 3 years)—child develops first sense of self as independent or as shameful and doubtful; the struggle of holding on to or letting go; an internal struggle for self-identity; love versus hate; psychosocial strength—will; if not provided the opportunity for some independence in activity, the child will lack self-confidence


c. Initiative versus guilt (3 to 6 years)—child learns ability to try new things and learns how to handle failure; period of intensive activity, play, and consuming fantasies, where child interjects parents’ social consciousness; psychosocial strength—purpose; if outlets for creativity and exploration are not provided, child blames self for lack of initiative


d. Industry versus inferiority (6 to 12 years)—child learns how to make things with others and strives to achieve success; psychosocial strength—self-worth; if not provided with mastery experiences and realistic positive feedback about performance, low self-esteem will occur


e. Identity versus confusion (puberty to young adulthood)—adolescent determines own sense of self; psychosocial strength—fidelity; if overly restricted in the exploration of interests and independent growth, discouragement and confusion about the direction to take in life will occur


f. Intimacy versus isolation (young adulthood)—person makes commitment to another; moves from the relative security of self-identity to the relative insecurity involved in establishing intimacy with another; psychosocial strength—love; if there has been a lack of intimacy in the family of origin and previous developmental stages are not achieved successfully, the development of intimacy is unlikely to occur and the individual may become isolated and self-absorbed


g. Generativity versus stagnation (middle adulthood)—person seeks to guide the next generation or risks feelings of personal incompleteness; psychosocial strength—care; if previous developmental stages were unsuccessfully completed and there is a continued lack of self-confidence or preoccupation with self, the adult fails to engage in meaningful activities that help support others


h. Integrity versus despair (late life)—older adult seeks a sense of personal accomplishment, adapts to triumphs and disappointments with a certain ego integrity and accepts death, or falls into despair; psychosocial strength—wisdom; if this stage is not achieved, there is a feeling of being unfulfilled and sad


Interpersonal theory (Sullivan)



1. Development results from interpersonal relationships with others in maximizing satisfaction of needs while minimizing insecurity


2. Development results from interpersonal relationships in the infancy, childhood, juvenile, preadolescent, adolescent, and late adolescent stages



a. Infancy (0 to 2 years): learns to differentiate self from others; learns through trial and error; learns from parental interactions to rely on others to gratify needs and satisfy wishes; develops a sense of basic trust, security, and self-worth; ends with language development; if needs are not met anxiety and emotional withdrawal occur


b. Childhood (2 to 6 years): language development allows for education; development of body image and self-perception; self-esteem develops with sublimation; child learns to communicate needs through the use of words and to accept delayed gratification and interference with wish fulfillment; expresses impulses in socially acceptable ways or develops a feeling of living among enemies


c. Juvenile (6 to 10 years): relations with peers allow child to see self objectively; develops conscience; behavior is connected to others’ opinions; organizes and uses experiences in terms of approval and disapproval received; begins using selective inattention and disassociates those experiences that cause physical or emotional discomfort and pain; difficulty with this stage results in ineffective social interaction and social isolation


d. Preadolescent (10 to 13 years): develops same-sex friends; moves from egocentrism to love; able to form satisfying relationships and work with peers; uses competition, compromise, and cooperation; difficulty with this stage results in a lack of reciprocity in interpersonal relationships


e. Adolescent (13 to 17 years): interest in sexual activity; learns how to establish satisfactory relationships with members of the opposite sex; if attractions are severely discouraged or thwarted, insecurity and loneliness develop


f. Late adolescent (17 to 19 years): personality integration; able to integrate the needs of society without becoming overwhelmed with anxiety; inability to achieve personality integration results in regression and egocentrism for life


Cognitive development theory (Piaget)



1. Sensorimotor stage (infancy-toddler): infant develops physically with a gradual increase in the ability to think and use language; progresses from simple reflex responses through repetitive behaviors to deliberate and imaginative activity


2. Preoperational thought stage (preschool): child learns to imitate and play; begins to use symbols and language although interpretation is literal


3. Preoperational thought stage continues (school age): child begins to understand relationships and develops basic conceptual thought and intuitive reasoning


4. Concrete operational thought stage (preadolescent): thinking is more socialized and logical with increased intellectual and conceptual development; begins problem solving by use of inductive reasoning and logical thought


5. Formal operational stage (adolescent): develops true abstract thought by application of logical tests; achieves conceptual independence and problem-solving ability

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Mar 17, 2017 | Posted by in NURSING | Comments Off on Foundations of Mental Health/Psychiatric Nursing

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