Resumen

FRANCIA REYES, María Elena  y  ALEA CASADEVALL, Bárbara. Alternativas no farmacológicas en pacientes comunitarios. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2003, vol.19, n.4. ISSN 0864-2125.

Psychological problems are common in the child and adolescent populations. Every year, one out of 10 children presents with a significant mental health problem (psychiatric disorders or emotional, behavioral or relational anomalies). A prospective, longitudinal exploratory study was carried out on 8 teenagers with slight mental retardation from the Special Education School "Mártires del Corynthia", located in Cayo Hueso neighborhood, Centro Habana municipality. The objective was to determine the behavior of these teenagers in group psychotherapy according to their characteristics by using the qualitative technique of individual in-depth interview as the research methodology. This technique is applied in a semistructured way, being more informal but at the same time more comprehensive than other techniques since it measures factors such as understanding, motivation, subjectivity, criteria, etc. The achieved results showed that both parents and teachers found favorable changes in the teenagers´behaviour after their incorporation into the psychotherapy group.

Palabras clave : MENTAL RETARDATION [therapy]; ADOLESCENCE; EDUCATION, SPECIAL; PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP; PRIMARY, HEALTH CARE.