Keywords
ressentiment
motherhood
relationship quality
family
child hospitalization
How to Cite
Abstract
Effective psychological, pedagogical and counselling assistance addressed to the family requires a reliable recognition of its resources, burdens and mechanisms of functioning in crisis situations, as indicated by Maria Ryś in her book Psychological determinants of relationship formation in normal and dysfunctional family systems. Test methods [Psychologiczne uwarunkowania kształtowania relacji w prawidłowych i dysfunkcyjnych systemach rodzinnych. Metody badań] (2025) indicate that an accurate diagnosis is a basic condition for effective support for marriages and families. It is particularly important in the situation of illness and hospitalisation of a child, which may disturb the emotional and relational balance of the entire family system. The aim of this article is to identify psychological risk factors, especially ressentiment as a silent destructor of these relationships, and to identify protective factors associated with the severity of depressive symptoms in mothers of children hospitalised in the paediatric ward. The study involved 198 mothers whose children were in the district hospital ward. The subjects completed a set of questionnaires including the Depression Scale, the Universal Life Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Measurement Scale, the Relationship Quality Inventory and the Ressentiment Questionnaire. The relationship between ressentiment, quality of the partner relationship, satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs, professional activity, hobbies and perceived involvement of the partner in childcare and household duties and the severity of depressive symptoms was analysed. The results obtained mostly confirmed the accepted research hypotheses. It has been shown that important predictors of depressive symptoms are ressentiment (r = 0.67; p < 0.01), frustration; needs for autonomy and competence (r = 0.47, p < 0.01), satisfaction of the need for competence (r = -0.50, p < 0.01), hobbies and perceived involvement of the partner in childcare and household duties. Relational and motivational variables were of particular importance, highlighting the role of satisfaction and competence. The results also indicate that the protective factors that weaken the relationship between ressentiment and the severity of depressive symptoms are the depth of the relationship with the partner, his involvement in household duties and childcare, and perceived support. An interesting result, however, turned out to be that having hobbies and professional activity strengthened the relationship between ressentiment and depression. This may suggest that, under high care workload, potentially supportive activities may lose their protective significance if the mother does not have a real possibility of implementing them satisfactorily. The results of the study are important for a psychological diagnosis that includes both individual emotional-cognitive mechanisms and family context. Also pointing to the need for further research, especially of a longitudinal nature, which would allow to better capture the dynamics of the relationship between ressentiment, quality of partner relationship, frustration of psychological needs and depressive symptoms in mothers of hospitalized children.
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