Este trabajo describe algunos procesos implicados en las dinámicas de inseguridad y trauma dentro de las relaciones tempranas padres-hijos, y explora la configuración recursiva o circular de dichos fenómenos, mediante el análisis de un caso de conflicto diádico madre-hijo. El trabajo se apoya sobre propuestas procedentes de la teoría del apego, los estudios sobre el trauma y su transmisión intergeneracional, la mentalización parental, las terapias padres-hijos y los programas de intervención centrada en el vínculo. El modelo articula la relación entre las necesidades y señales afectivas del niño, los cuadros de reexperimentación sufridos por los padres traumatizados, las distorsiones en la mentalización parental, las tendencias defensivas de los padres y las adaptaciones relacionales desarrolladas por los niños, entre otros elementos. Estos componentes se organizan en un mapa de formulación de caso, que es aplicado al caso descrito. Se discute una breve viñeta de intervención relacionada con el modelo previamente presentado.

Background: Pediatric illnesses not only impose physical challenges on affected children, but also profoundly impact their emotional well-being. Understanding how parents respond to their children’s psychological distress during medical experiences is crucial for enhancing the overall support provided to these families. Aim: This study evaluated the internal structure of the Parental Response Styles Questionnaire (PRSQ), designed to differentiate parental responses to psychological distress in children with pediatric illnesses. Methods: A sample of 701 parents of children with medical issues responded to the PRSQ, reporting their different emotional expressions and responses to their children’s expressions of distress during the medical experience. Results: Factor analysis confirmed, in three of the five subsamples, an internal scale structure consisting of four factors: apathy and dysphoria, irritability and rejection, overprotectiveness, and perceived maladjustment. The invariance analyses revealed that congenital heart disease and neurological disorders are more similar in function to each other than pediatric cancer. Parents of children with neurological disorders exhibited a notably insecure pattern of parental responsiveness. Conclusions: In pediatric contexts, parental responses to their children’s emotional distress are significant factors in the process of adaptation. These responses can be measured, differentiated, and, ideally, managed by nurses and other healthcare professionals. The Parental Response Styles Questionnaire (PRSQ) is a promising tool for assessing parental reactions during their children’s treatment, and its structure appears to be particularly robust across diagnoses such as pediatric cancer, congenital heart disease, and neurological disorders.

In this illuminating volume, Carlos Pitillas and Ismael Martínez-Biurrun provide in-depth analysis of contemporary horror films from a psychoanalytic perspective. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis, object relations theory and relational psychoanalysis, the authors explore the ways in which horror films present different aspects of traumatic phenomenology and the re-emergence of unprocessed traumatic wounds. Covering films as diverse as Psycho, The Babadook, Black Swan, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, the authors dissect the use of symbolism and metaphors in popular horror cinema to show how the disruptive threats faced by characters in these films often function in the same way as post-traumatic stress disorder, and consider behaviours such as repetitive thoughts and actions, dissociation, and more through the lens of neuroscience and narrative theory. This book is an important and novel read for all psychoanalysts in practice and training looking for new ways to understand and work with clients who have experienced traumatic life events. The authors’ use of familiar and canonical horror films also equips students and researchers of film studies with the knowledge necessary to integrate psychoanalytic theories into their work. <!----> <!----> <!----> <!---->