Psychological Development Of Borderline Adolescents In Wilderness Therapy PDF Download

This study explored selected changes in borderline adolescents expected to be associated with their participation in a Wilderness therapy group. Evidence of psychological growth was sought in test/retest comparisons of the subjects' ego functioning, self-reports of anxiety and depression, ability to separate from parents and locus of control. The theoretical works of Mahler, Winnicott and Masterson provided the major theoretical background for the study. A naturalistic panel design was employed using a sample of convenience. The sample consisted of thirteen adolescents, between the ages of fourteen and nineteen, who were involved in Wilderness group therapy. The adolescents were interviewed at two points in time separated by a ten month interval. The measurements used were the Ego Strength Scale, the Nowicki-Strickland Scale of Externality, two modified Thematic Apperception Test cards (focused on separation issues) and the Costello-Comery Scale of depression and anxiety. A semi-structured interview served to corroborate quantatative findings. The findings suggested that the adolescents felt greater impulse control, autonomy, relatedness and self-esteem Scores on a subtest for greater frustration tolerance were not statistically significant. The subjects perveived themselves as more separated from parents, less depressed and anxious, and more internally-oriented. The interviews reflected similar findings. Certain aspects of Wilderness group therapy such as the stress factor, the leader as good rapprochement mother, and the holding environment of the group, appeared to encourage adolescents' renegotiation of earlier developmental isues as they tackled age-appropriate tasks. The leaders and the group, as transitional phenomena, might also have enabled the adolescents to internalize their therapeutic experience.