CHRONIC NEUROTIC ENCOPRESIS AS A PARADIGM OF A MULTIFACTORIAL PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER

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Abstract
Chronic neurotic encopresis (CNE), a childhood psychiatric disorder characterized by inappropriate fecal soiling, necessitates the formation of the following specific etiological factors: a neurologically immature developmental musculature, an organic condition which may complicate toilet training; premature or harsh toilet training; a family constellation in which the father is frequently absent and the mother erratic, emotionally inappropriate and distant; the child''s formation of a noncommunicative, passive, dependent personality. All of these factors are helpful in explaining the occurrence of CNE, which may be the result of a synergistic interaction among them. The complexity of etiological agents dictates a multifactorial rather than unicausal model of mental illness. Future research and tactics of psychotherapeutic intervention should focus on the interplay among these factors rather than attempting to single out a primary predisposing factor.

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