The role of the mental factor in integrating emotions and communication in adolescents

Abstract

The authors suggest that in order to understand the integrity of human mental organisation it is highly important to study the features of integration between the emotional sphere and communicative areas. The study focuses on adolescents and their ability to integrate emotions in communication. Adolescents can differentiate human emotions and experience anxiety, fear, emotional communication barriers and overall psychophysiological tension. The communicative sphere is defined by aggression that prevents bonding with the other people and empathy which facilitates such bonding. The authors present the results of a study, which involved youngsters aged 12–13 years with mental disorders (99 people) and mentally healthy teenagers (94 people). All the teenagers voluntarily agreed to participate in the study; consent was also obtained from their parents. The study involved the use of complex methods to determine the characteristics of the emotional sphere and communication in adolescence. Some techniques were modified to accommodate intellectual impairment, and the study procedures were conducted individually. The outcomes of the study suggest that cognitive impairment affects the stability of internal integration of the emotional and the communicative sphere. A close connection between the realms increases psychological vulnerability of mentally retarded adolescents. The vulnerability impedes the accuracy in differentiating human emotions, increases the tendency to perceive the surrounding world as threatening, enforces emotional barriers in communication, and leads to overall psychophysiological tension, aggressive reactions and low empathy. For these teenagers, the imbalance within the emotional sphere and emotional stress combined with communication difficulties create conditions for uncontrolled aggression and impede the expression of empathy. The authors conclude that the integrative approach opens up new possibilities for correction of emotional reactions and communication skills in children with mental disabilities and for inclusive interaction.