Kyrylova O. The System of Psychological Support of Adolescents with Delayed Puberty

The thesis is devoted to improving the system of psychological support of boys with delayed puberty (DP) in the course of in-patient treatment by correction of maladjustive types of their inner representation of health (IRH) and optimization of the emotional state of adolescent patients, which includes involving their parents. Psychological features of the IRH were established in adolescents with DP, and their typology was proposed. The relationships between emotional state indicators and individual psychological characteristics were established in adolescents with DP and with different types of the IRH. Some factors were singled out which affect the formation of the system of notions concerning health, illness and treatment in adolescents with different types of the IRH. It was shown that the type of parental attitude to the health of adolescents with DP influences the formation of their IRH. Parents' support promotes the formation of adaptive type of the IRH in sick adolescents. This enabled the author to define the reference points concerning the organization of psychological support of boys with DP under the conditions of the in-patient clinic. The data obtained serves as the basis for the development of the system of psychocorrective measures, directed at optimization of the IRH and the psychoemotional state of the patients, parental attitude to the health of adolescents with DP, being taken into account. The work provides convincing evidence for the efficiency of the proposed system of psychological support.