Psychosemantic Approach to Assessing Difficult Life Situations (on the Pattern of the Situation Related to the Disease That Threatens a Child’s Life)

Th e article deals with the notion of a diffi cult life situation and its subjective characteristics. Using apsychosemantic approach, the authors have created a methodology — the Life Situations Semantic Diff erential. With a help of this technique semantic units were identifi ed in the perception of the life situation of close relatives of seriously ill children. Th e sample included 81 individuals (adults aged 20 to 60 years). Semantic units were grouped around such parameters of situation perception as 1) the level of stress; 2) assessment of their own psychological resources; 3) the certainty-uncertainty of situation; 4) strength and energy; 5) a sense of resolvability of the situation and 6) involvement and signifi cance

Grishina N. V. Psikhologiia sotsial’nykh situatsii [Psychology of social situations]. Psikhologiia sotsial’nykh situatsii: khrestomatiia [Psychology of social situations]. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2001, pp. 8–27. (In Russian)