Main Adaptation Objectives among Adolescents in Different Internal Disorder Pattern Variants

Abstract

The problem of social and psychological adaptation remains one of the most important for adolescence. It acquires far greater significance for disabled adolescent individuals whose personal development occurs under hard conditions. Dysontogenesis forms both imply information processing specificities and can determine personal development, I-concept formation, and social adaptation features. Modern Russian and foreign studies mainly focus on the following determinants of disabled people’s social adaptation: personal traits, social living conditions, and the severity of their disorder. In this light, academic research on socio-psychological adaptation determinants among adolescents proves critical. Those are traditionally associated with disorder severity and an individual’s age their disorder occurred. We consider the internal disorder pattern (IDP), which is an integrative formation understood as a complex of sensations, knowledge, experiences, and motivational shifts associated with the disorder, one of the crucial factors for successful adaptation as well. We observe a lack of consistency in the research background of the IDP phenomenon.Our results reveal that one’s disorder awareness, emotional experiences, physical sensations caused by his disorder, and subsequent health limitations may affect their adaptability. We distinguish 4 IDP variants whose components may differ quantitatively as well as in their ratio. Each IDP component has specific relationships with social-psychological adaptation parameters. Most successful adaptation strategies are correlated to low indices in the physical-sensitive IDP component. The results also suggest several hypotheses about possible adaptation and maladaptation mechanisms.

Keywords

• Adolescents
• socio-psychological adaptation
• limit