Dispositional Styles in Original Tales of Adolescents with Cancer and Rheumatic Diseases

The article presents the results of a study of dispositional styles, which are reflected in the content of the original fairy tales of adolescents with oncological (n=40) and rheumatic (n=50) diseases. All adolescents underwent long-term treatment in Moscow medical organizations and were students of the State educational institution of the city of Moscow School “Teaching Technologies”. A dispositional behavior style (including resilient / victimized styles) is considered as a set of attitudes formed as a result of interaction with the environment and encouraging certain behavioral reactions and actions, which reflect the “behavior signature”. It was found that in conditions of oncological and rheumatic disabling diseases that create a deficit social situation of development, adolescents are characterized by different dispositional behavior styles, each of which has a resource for compensation. For adolescents with a resilient dispositional style, compensatory resources include attitudes toward involvement, control, and risk taking. For teenagers with a victimized dispositional style, a fairy tale becomes a compensatory resource: in fairy-tales they express their feelings and reflect on the problem of finding meaning. For adolescents with an unstable style compensatory resources are a combination of resilient attitudes and fairy tale resources.