The impact of maternal personality on individuation during adolescence.

The role of the mother in the resolution of the rapprochement crisis as it continues into adolescence is examined through the analyses of a 14-year-old boy and his mother. The symptoms of the adolescent were anxiety, poor school performance, and drug abuse. The mother sought treatment for intense anxiety and overwhelming dread when contemplating her future and that of her son. The dynamics of the mother, the nature of the symbiotic bond, and their impact on the inability of the adolescent to effectively disengage from anaclitic parental ties are discussed. The importance of understanding parental dynamics in the analysis of adolescents is stressed from theoretical and clinical viewpoints. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)