Motherhood Specificities With the Rorschach Method

Abstract

Abstract. Motherhood, listed by the World Health Organization as a period of fragility and vulnerability, involves significant changes at the individual, family and social level. Becoming a mother entails a number of risk factors to take into account. It is therefore necessary to carry out studies on general populations not suffering from psychopathological disorders to better understand these risk factors linked to motherhood. This study was carried out in France with a nonconsulting population in the postnatal phase ( N = 30) using the Rorschach test, as it presents numerous advantages to appreciate the psychic and corporeal transformations linked to birth. The quantitative results of the test were compared with recently updated norms ( De Tychey et al., 2012 ). Eight values of the psychogram remained normative (F%, F+%, W%, Dd%, M, C, H%, P) reflecting the characteristics of a general population; conversely, eight other values of the psychogram (R, D%, S%, A%, RC%, m, E, Anguish Index%) differed significantly from general population norms. These results increase knowledge to help appreciate the complexity of the psychic processes at work during the postnatal period, and to prevent psychopathological disorders. It is thus possible to distinguish these disorders from those that are transitory and classically linked to the upheaval caused by the onset of motherhood.