TRINCA, Ana Maria T. (1987) – A apreensão de conteúdos emocionais de crianças em situação pré-cirúrgica [Apprehension of emotional contents of children in a pre-surgical situation]. Master’s Dissertation. São Paulo (SP), Instituto de Psicologia da USP, 305 pp.
The objective of this research was to investigate the main emotional content manifested by children that found themselves in a pre-surgical situation. It is assumed that the child develops fantasies, anxieties and defense mechanisms particular to his personality and to the surgical situation, from the first moment he is informed about his surgery. To investigate the emergence of emotions in the pre-surgical situation, a field research was carried out in children’s hospitals of the city of São Paulo (SP). The sample consisted of 15 subjects of both sexes, from 7 to 11 years old, who were expecting non-urgent minor surgeries. The clinical tool used for better apprehension of emotional content of these children was the Drawing-and-Story Procedure. Semi-structured interviews with the children’s mothers were also conducted. The analysis of clinical material within a psychoanalytic approach showed that surgery usually re-urges regressive fantasies, anxieties and basic defenses of the personality, brings up primitive anguishes, intensifies primary defense mechanisms, acts as punishment, mobilizes life forces in the personality and is felt as a chance for reparation. The author detected psychotherapeutic needs in the children that were facing the difficult pre-surgical moment. At last, it was suggested the creation of a set of Psychological Services at Surgical Wards in Hospitals, in order to help the children and to provide some relief for the parent’s anxieties.