[Life events, coping and social support: attempt at integration from the psychoanalytic viewpoint]

Abstract

In the Federal Republic of Germany, few attempts have been made to subject psychoanalytical theories of illness to empirical examination using the modern methods of science. There are also very few established connections between these theories and recognized socio-psychological concepts, and theoretical constructs that are in fact quite similar have thus led a separate but parallel existence because of differences in terminology. In our epidemiological research project (begun in 1978), we concentrate on the observation of psychic health and/or psychogenic illness as influenced by factors of personality and of symptom-causing conditions, drawing on the methods of socio-psychological research. In this study, we present 1) our results from the areas "Life-events", "Coping", and "Social support" and 2) a quantification of the pathogenic influence of these three factors based on regression analysis; finally, 3) we try to establish the connection to psychoanalytic concepts of symptom-causing temptation and failure situations and to ego-related models of defense and adaptation.