Dissertations and Theses
Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Sasha Rudenstine
Second Advisor
Steve Tuber
Third Advisor
Lissa Weinstein
Keywords
Assessment for Representational Risk (ARR), Parent Development Interview (PDI), object relations, Rorschach, hostile/helpless, attachment
Abstract
Caregiver representational risk – distorted internal models of the child, caregiver, or caregiving relationship – has been linked to disrupted attachment and adverse child outcomes, yet its relationship to children’s internalized object relational health remains understudied. This study examined associations between caregiver representational risk, assessed via the Assessment for Representational Risk (ARR) coding of Parent Development Interview (PDI) transcripts, and child object relational health, assessed via the Mutuality of Autonomy (MOA) scale applied to Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) protocols, in a clinical sample of 54 caregiver–child dyads (children aged 5–17) presenting for psychological services at a community mental health clinic. An exploratory factor analysis of the ARR’s ten dimensions yielded a three-factor solution (KMO = .73; 51.86% of variance explained): hostile behaviors clustering with the absence of positive relational dynamics; hostile experience clustering with emotional distress and incoherence; and helplessness clustering with fearfulness and enmeshment. However, there was evidence of structural instability, which suggested a sample-specific rather than replicable configuration. ARR total scores correlated significantly with MOA category (r = .27, p = .023), with higher representational risk associated with poorer child object relations. Among individual ARR dimensions, hostility-parental experience (r = .30), hostile/frightening behavior (r = .25), and helplessness (r = .32) emerged as the dimensions most strongly associated with unhealthy object representations in the child. These findings are consistent with the intergenerational transmission literature and suggest that hostile/helpless caregiver representational states may be particularly durable and consequential for children’s internalized relational world. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Eidman, Jo Hannah, "The Transmission Of Ghosts: Caregiver Representational Risk And Child Object Relations" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1324
