The Symbiosis Scale: Inkblot Responses of Children from Symbiotically and Non-Symbiotically Oriented Families

Describes the development and subsequent attempts at validation of an objective measure of the concept of symbiosis based on children's responses to inkblot stimuli. It was hypothesized that children reared in symbiosis inducing versus non-symbiosis inducing family settings would obtain higher scores on the symbiosis scale. The hypothesis was supported in a first study involving 36 children evidencing neurotic and personality disorders (p less than .01), but was not supported in a second study involving 35 children of whom over 70 percent evidenced borderline psychotic or psychotic disorders. In a third study involving 27 neurotic and personality disordered children the scaled again differentiated between children from symbiotically oriented versus non-symbiotically oriented families (p less than .01).