Rorschach assessment of annihilation anxiety and ego functioning.

This work illustrates the development, validation, and application of the Rorschach Content Scale (RCS; M. Hurvich et al; see record 1994-15961-001) for annihilation anxiety. Annihilation anxiety is defined here as the fear of one's impending psychic or physical destruction. Results reflected adequate RCS interrater reliability, content validity, construct validity, criterion validity, and divergent validity. Patient groups scored significantly higher on annihilation anxiety measures than did controls. Findings also demonstrated that certain aspects of RCS annihilation anxiety appeared more frequently than did others and may be more central to the construct. Results supported the contention that annihilation anxiety is associated with compromised ego functioning, when both are measured on the Rorschach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)