CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM OF ATTITUDES IN PATIENTS WITH AN INTESTINAL STOMA

Surgical treatment of intestinal diseases followed by developing of an stoma is accompanied with a number of deviations in personality and social functioning. Besides very much expected anxiety and depression conditions, ostomy patients tend to develop body dissatisfaction; loss of self-worth, self-efficacy and communicative competence. The use of psychological category “attitude” allows generalizing subjective experience of ostomy patients in the most important scopes, such as bodily, intra- and interpersonal spheres. The experimental sample consisted of 30 patients (20 females, 10 males) with colostomy; the control sample consisted of 30 conditionally healthy respondents (20 females, 10 males). The groups were equal in terms of age and social-demographic characteristics. The following techniques were utilized in the study: “The Self-Attitude Questionnaire” (author – S.P. Pantileev); “Interpersonal Relationships Questionnaire” (author – V. Shutz, adaptation by A.A. Rukavishnikov); “Situational Inventory of Body Image Dysphoria”, short form (author – T. Cash, adaptation by L.T. Baranskaya, S.S. Tataurova). The results of empirical study prove that the samples statistically significant differ by the following parameters: inner honesty, self-acceptance, internal conflict, self-accusation, expressed and required behavior in the scope of “Inclusion”, expressed behavior in the scopes of “Control” and “Affect”. Ostomy patients experience self-acceptance deficit, prone to self-criticism, tend to feel guilty and ashamed. At the same time, they are focused on finding new social contacts and developing close relation-ships, but prefer to limit themselves to a narrow circle of significant others and generally avoid making responsible decisions in a communication situation. The obtained data will be helpful to compile a program of complex social-psychological support of patients with colostomy.