Avaliação psicológica da criança hospitalizada: uma percepção do adoecer com ênfase no uso do teste de apercepção infantil (CAT-A)

Abstract

The illness and consequently hospitalization of the child represents a significant impact on their reality, implying in the change of the their routine, the need for adaptation to an unfamiliar environment, the deprivation of the family, especially the separation of the motherly figure, and the achievement of the invasive procedures, which contributes to the imminence of emotional crises that can reverberate in the global development of the child, in the prognosis of the disease and, in their coping ability. In this work, it attempted to understand the meaning of experiencing the illness and, hospitalization for the child through the use of Children's Apperception Test (CAT-A), to which constitutes a thematic technique projective intended for children between 5 and 10 years, allowing to investigate aspects such as the child's relationship with important figures in their life, the dynamic of interpersonal relations, the nature and strength of the impulses, the defenses mobilized, the study of child development and the understanding of the family dynamics. The study participants were the children interned in the sector of pediatrics Pedro Câmara of the Hospital Varella Santiago, located in the city of Natal, considering a sample of six children, coupled with their parents and / or guardians. The collection of data was made through from the observation of routine of children, interview with the parents and / or guardians and test application with the children. From of the contents presented in the stories analyzed, correlated the personal history of each child, was possible to perceive some thematics which appear as indicators of meanings about the experience of being sick and hospitalized: Anxiety, fear, helplessness, passivity, impotence and ability to overcoming. It was found that within the Evaluation context of the child in the hospital, the utilization of playful resources and projective tests tends to facilitate communication, taking in view that the child, differently from adults, do not often know verbalize their pain into words. The results point to the valuable contribution that the use of CAT-A can bring to the psychologist working in hospital, once, for his playful way, has a good acceptance by portion of the children and allows a access to contents more difficult to be expressed verbally.