Psychological syndrome analysis (Vygotsky – Luria School) in psychosomatics: Clinical and psychological study of patients with mitral valve prolapse

Abstract

Introduction

One of the dominant methodological principles of Russian clinical psychology (the Vygotsky-Luria School) is the principle of Psychological syndrome analysis (PSA). It can also be heuristically applied to psychosomatics.

Objective

To identify a psychosomatic syndrome in patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP).

Materials and methods

We applied various techniques for a qualitative and statistical data analysis of clinical and psychological study. We explored our patients’ individual personality profiles, anxiety level (Spielberger et al., 1983), features of achievement motivation (Heckhausen, 1963), emotion regulation strategies (ERS) (Zinchenko, Pervichko, 2014; Pervichko, 2015), dynamics of the patient's emotional state in stress conditions, and degrees of manifestation of MVP clinical symptoms. The study comprised 134 MVP patients, mean age was 24.8 ± 1.2 years, and 73 healthy subjects, mean age was 27.5 ± 1.3 years.

Results

MVP patients proved to be more prone to emotional stress; they were also inclined to choose less effective ERS as compared to healthy subjects. ANOVA data revealed dependence of intensity of such clinical symptoms as cardialgia, tension headaches and psychogenic dyspnea on the degree of anxiety level and the presence of dysfunctional ERS in MVP patients. The interpretation of the study results with PSA method suggested that the patients’ psychological and clinical characteristics form into a psychosomatic syndrome. The first syndrome-generating factor is the presence of the approach – avoidance motivational conflict in achievement settings. Dysfunctions of emotion regulation appear as a second syndrome-generating factor in psychosomatic syndrome in MVP patients.

Conclusions

PSA (the Vygotsky-Luria School) can be used as a means to approach diagnostic and prognostic tasks in Clinical psychology and Psychosomatic medicine.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.