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Reflective-Functioning Manual Version 5 for Application to Adult Attachment Interviews
Abstract
The term reflective function (RF) refers to the psychological processes underlying the capacity to mentalize, a concept which has been described in both the psychoanalytic (Fonagy, 1989; 1991) and cognitive psychology literatures (e.g. Morton & Frith, 1995). Reflective functioning or mentalization is the active expression of this psychological capacity intimately related to the representation of the self (Fonagy & Target, 1995; 996; Target & Fonagy, 1996). RF involves both a self-reflective and an interpersonal component that ideally provides the individual with a well-developed capacity to distinguish inner from outer reality, pretend from ‘real’ modes of functioning, intra-personal mental and emotional processes from interpersonal communications. Because of the inherently interpersonal origins to how the reflective capacity develops and expresses itself, this manual refers to reflective functioning, and no longer of reflective-self functioning (see Fonagy, Steele, Moran, Steele, & Higgitt, 1991a), as the latter term is too easily reduced to self-reflection which is only part of what is intended by the concept.
... Another important distinction between the two concepts seems to be that mentalizing includes and relies heavily on implicit activity and knowledge (Fonagy, Target, Steele & Steele, 1998), whereas metacognition is presented as and exemplified with only explicit efforts in understanding human behavior. Research using the Metacognitive Assessment Scale has shown improvements in metacognitive abilities in patients who undertook cognitive behavioral therapy or metacognitive interpersonal therapy (Dimaggio, Semerari, Carcione, Niccolò, & Procacci, 2007) and it might be that the concept of metacognition is closer to the cognitive behavioral tradition. ...
... The golden standard of mentalizing assessment is the operationalization called the Reflective Functioning (RF) Scale. The RF scale was developed by Fonagy et al. in 1998, to be used on Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI; George, Kaplan & Main, 1985). The AAI consists of questions concerning interactions with attachment figures and potentially attachment activating situations (such as separations). ...
... Unlike the AAI, the PDI is focused on a current, constantly evolving relationship, which lessens the burden on autobiographical memory and often makes it easier for the interviewee to come up with emotionally salient examples of interactions that call upon mentalizing the child and oneself as a parent. The PDI is scored for RF by applying the original RF scale (Fonagy et al., 1998) together with an addendum created by . ...
... While the therapeutic alliance, defined as the patient-therapist affective bond and a purposeful collaboration on the tasks and goals of therapy (Bordin, 1979), as well as early improvements in the therapeutic alliance are agreed to be among the most potent predictors of treatment outcome across different therapeutic approaches (Constantino et al., 2021;Flückiger et al., 2018Flückiger et al., , 2020Flückiger et al., , 2022, the ability to mentalize and improvements therein have been discussed as potential change mechanisms in psychotherapy (Babl et al., 2022;Fonagy et al., 1998;Kivity et al., 2019;Taubner et al., 2011). Mentalization has its roots in psychodynamic theories (Fonagy & Target, 2007), where the analyst's capacity to mentalize the patient's mental states was emphasized. ...
... Mentalization is integral to this process. Fonagy et al. (1998) defined mentalization as the capacity to perceive and understand oneself and others regarding mental states, such as feelings, beliefs, intentions, and desires. Thus, it involves both a self-reflective and an interpersonal component (Fonagy & Target, 2002). ...
... The Reflective Functioning Scale (RF scale; fifth edition; Fonagy et al., 1998) was developed and is used to rate transcripts of adult attachment interviews (AAIs; Fonagy et al., 1991). It is part of a coding procedure that assesses a patient's ability to reflect on his or her attachment-related experiences regarding different mental states (Fonagy et al., 1998). ...
The therapeutic alliance is a well-established predictor of psychotherapy outcome, and the ability to mentalize has been discussed as a change mechanism in psychotherapy. Low mentalization may lead to impairments in the alliance. In the present study, we assessed mentalization effects on the therapeutic alliance over the course of treatment. Thirty-seven patients diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders received 25 ± 3 sessions of integrative cognitive behavioral therapy (outpatient setting). Patient’s mentalization was coded by external raters based on transcripts of the first, eighth, 16th, and 24th therapy sessions, and the alliance quality was assessed from both patient and therapist perspectives after each session. The effects of mentalization on the alliance were investigated both within and between patients using hierarchical linear modeling. A higher patient ability to mentalize was related to a better therapist-reported but not patient-reported alliance during treatment. Mentalization did not show significant within-patient effects on the therapeutic alliance. To conclude, therapists may perceive a stronger therapeutic alliance with patients who exhibit a greater capacity for mentalization. It might be important for therapists to pay attention to a possible positive bias when patients present with a high ability to mentalize.
... This is congruent with meta-analytic findings failing to show significant stability when attachment is measured more than 15 years apart (Pinquart et al., 2013). Hence, considering that RF is argued to never be definitely acquired but dependent on context (Fonagy et al., 1998), one could assume that even if early attachment does predict the quality of adult RF, concurrent attachment security could also play a role. ...
... RF was assessed with the Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS; Fonagy et al., 1998) by coding the AMMI interviews. The RFS assesses participants' ability to understand mental states and to use them to interpret one's own and others' behavior in attachment relationships. ...
... The one-factor structure of the RFS is supported by the findings of Taubner et al. (2013). Participants' responses to each question of the attachment interview were scored, and these ratings were aggregated into an overall score following the guidelines provided in the Reflective Functioning Manual (Fonagy et al., 1998). Attachment narratives were coded for RF by a trained and reliable coder who was unaware of other study data. ...
Links between reflective functioning (RF; the ability to conceive of mental states and to interpret human behavior accordingly) and concurrent attachment security have been found in both childhood and adulthood. However, the respective contributions of early and concurrent attachment security in adult RF remain unknown. This study examines the contributions of attachment security to the mother in early childhood and of concurrent attachment security to each parent in young adults’ RF. Eighty-one low-risk participants (49 girls and 32 boys) from average income families took part in this longitudinal study. Attachment security was assessed at 4 years of age with a composite measure of mother-reported Attachment Q-Sort and observer ratings of the quality of mother–child interactions. At age 23, the Attachment Multiple Model Interview was administered to assess participants’ attachment security to each parent. RF was coded from the participants’ attachment narratives using the Reflective Functioning Scale. Attachment security to the mother at age 4 was found to be associated with RF in adulthood. Also, an interactive effect between attachment to the mother and attachment to the father in adulthood was related to RF, suggesting that attachment with one parent moderates the effect of attachment with the other parent on RF. These findings emphasize the importance of both early and concurrent attachment security in the capacity to understand mental states in adulthood.
... We assessed PRF at three timepoints using the same coding system (Reflective Functioning scale; Fonagy et al., 1998) at each timepoint. As part of the pre-intervention interview, we administered the Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) to assess PRF. ...
... In the present study, the FMSS and the pre-and postvisit coaching sessions were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded using the Reflective Functioning scale (Fonagy et al., 1998). This coding scale assesses the ability to describe mental states of the self and of another person. ...
... It consists of an 11-point scale ranging from negative 1 (indicating resistance toward mentalizing) to positive 9 (indicating extraordinarily sophisticated mentalizing). A score between 2 and 4 indicates uncertainty about the mental states of others, a score of 5 indicates the ability to relate mental states to behaviors, and a score of 7 indicates mentalization of multiple mental states in detail and how they each relate to each other (Fonagy et al., 1998). Interrater reliability was calculated using intraclass correlation (ICC) with 10 randomly selected cases from both incarcerated parents and caregivers rated by six independent coders. ...
Objectives
Incarcerated parents and children’s caregivers participated in a brief mindfulness skills intervention called IMMERSIVE: Including Meaningful Mindful Experiences of Relational Savoring In Visiting Environments. The goal of IMMERSIVE was to support positive visiting experiences for families during incarceration by increasing adult perspective-taking, mindfulness, and positive emotion when reflecting on children’s visiting experiences.
Method
In this mixed-methods study, implemented using an intervention-only group design, 44 families participated in the study, which included pre-intervention interviews, parent–child remote video visits, and two IMMERSIVE visit coaching sessions. We audio-recorded pre-intervention interviews focusing on the child, pre-visit coaching sessions, and post-visit coaching sessions. Parental reflective functioning was coded from transcripts. In addition, pre- and post-visit transcripts were analyzed for the frequency of positive emotion words, negative emotion words, and mindfulness words utilizing text analysis (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count-22).
Results
For incarcerated parents, parental reflective functioning increased from pre-intervention to pre-visit coaching, with gains maintained through post-visit coaching sessions (medium effect size, p < 0.05). Negative emotion words decreased from pre- to post-visit coaching (large effect size, p < 0.05), with a particularly large effect size observed for at-home caregivers. Most caregivers and incarcerated parents reported that the intervention was helpful.
Conclusions
The study provides initial evidence that the IMMERSIVE intervention may help incarcerated parents gain insight into their children’s visiting experiences and help at-home caregivers use more positive and fewer negative emotion words when reflecting on children’s visiting experiences. Future research should confirm these benefits while expanding mindfulness skills interventions to include vulnerable children and families, such as families affected by parental incarceration.
Preregistration
This study is not preregistered.
... Based on video recording of the interview a global RF-score is rated using the RFS. RFS is an elevenpoint scale ranging from -1 (anti-reflective) to + 9 (exceptional reflective) (7). The questions in the MBI are divided into those that permit and those that demand a demonstration of mentalizing capacity. ...
... The RFS is applied to a verbatim transcript of the interview resulting in a global RF-score (7). AAI-RF has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure of mentalizing capacity in non-clinical as well as clinical samples, also including BPD-samples (7,22,37). A total of 45 AAIs were scored, and IRR was established on a subset of 7 randomly chosen interviews. ...
... For these patients selfreported behavior (e.g. health service usage and suicidality) could be less susceptible to bias due to its concrete nature (7). ...
Objectives
Mentalizing difficulties are central to borderline personality disorder (BPD), have severe consequences, and are an explicit focus in mentalization-based treatment. The significance of mentalizing capacity as a predictor or mediator of change is however still uncertain due to a scarcity of research. The Mentalization Breakdown Interview (MBI) was developed as a time saving tool for studying psychotherapy processes and outcome in borderline pathology. This study aimed to investigate the convergent validity of reflective functioning (RF) ratings based on the MBI (MBI-RF) by a comparison with the gold standard, i.e., RF assessments based on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI-RF). A secondary aim was to investigate how MBI-RF relates to core symptoms of BPD, levels of functional impairment and symptom distress compared with AAI-RF.
Method
Forty-five patients with BPD or significant BPD traits were included. MBI-RF and AAI-RF were rated using the Reflective Functioning Scale. Levels of MBI-RF and AAI-RF and the correlation between the measures were calculated, as well as their associations with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Levels of Personality Functioning-Brief Form 2.0, Work and Social Adjustment Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, self-harm, suicide attempts, and PD diagnostics.
Results
The correlation between MBI-RF and AAI-RF was 0.79 (p<0.01), indicating high convergent validity. There were few significant associations between MBI-RF and AAI-RF and clinical measures.
Conclusions
The study provides support for the convergent validity of the MBI as a BPD-focused RF assessment method. The MBI has the potential as a time saving, reliable and valid method to be applied in treatment research on patients with borderline pathology. The results indicate that measures of MBI-RF and AAI-RF are different from clinical symptoms.
Clinical trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT04157907.
... The Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS; Fonagy et al., 1998) was applied to the AAI transcripts, following the AAI-RF system proposed by Fonagy et al. (1998). The AAI-RF scale ranges from − 1 to 9, and each score represents a different reproduction services in Rome and Milan (n = 16,76.19%), ...
... The Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS; Fonagy et al., 1998) was applied to the AAI transcripts, following the AAI-RF system proposed by Fonagy et al. (1998). The AAI-RF scale ranges from − 1 to 9, and each score represents a different reproduction services in Rome and Milan (n = 16,76.19%), ...
With few exceptions, previous studies of children’s identification and hierarchy of attachment figures have involved only children born to heterosexual parents through unassisted conception, recognizing mothers as the primary attachment figures. Further research into diverse families may help to disentangle parents’ attachment role from their gender, sexual orientation, and biological relatedness to children. The present study aimed at exploring whether differences in children’s choice of primary attachment figure could be explained by parents’ gender, biological status, attachment state of mind, reflective functioning, parenting quality, or by the child’s gender, across diverse family types. In total, 152 parents (i.e., 60 lesbian mothers through donor insemination, 50 gay fathers through surrogacy, 42 heterosexual parents through gamete donation) and their 76 school-aged children participated in the study. Children were interviewed about their choice of attachment figure in different situations. Parents completed questionnaires about parenting stress, parental rejection, parent–child relational efficacy, and parent positivity; and were administered the Adult Attachment Interview as a measure of their attachment state of mind and reflective functioning. Overall, no significant differences emerged between mothers and fathers or between biological and non-biological parents for children’s choice of primary attachment figure. However, fathers with higher RF were more likely to be identified as a primary attachment figure, and gay fathers who demonstrated less parental rejection were more likely to be chosen as a primary attachment figure. The findings provide important insights for social policies aimed at promoting preventive parenting interventions targeting the child–parent attachment bond in diverse families.
... The Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS; Fonagy et al. 1998) assesses the quality of reflective functioning in the context of the attachment relationship with use of the transcripts of the GBI ('GehechtsheidsBiografisch Interview'; Van IJzendoorn et al. 2001), which is the Dutch version of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Main, and Kaplan 1985). The RFS consists of 23 questions, which are scored by trained researchers to derive a total reflective functioning score. ...
... In line with other research (e.g., Gullestad et al. 2012;Kasper et al. 2024;), we used the distinction between the two main scale levels: negative to low (RFS < 4) versus medium-high (RFS ≥ 4) RF. The RFS has been validated with the coherence scale of the AAI and shows good interrater reliability after training (Fonagy et al. 1998;. In this study, the AAI interviews were coded by two certified RFS coders. ...
This cross‐sectional study investigated the relationship between the presence and impact of ACEs with both reactive and proactive aggression, and the possible moderating role of mentalization (operationalized as reflective functioning) in these expected relationships. Sixty‐five inpatient and outpatient adults with any kind of antisocial behaviour completed the Dutch version of the Traumatic Experiences Checklist, the Reactive‐Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, and the Adult Attachment Interview with the use of the Reflective Functioning Scale. Preliminary analysis showed a remarkably high level of ACEs, and a relatively high reported impact of these experiences. We found a positive relationship between the total presence of ACEs (including childhood maltreatment and adverse household factors), and both reactive and proactive aggression. We also found positive relationships between the experienced impact of these ACEs and both reactive and proactive aggression. Regarding childhood maltreatment in family of origin, we did not find a correlation between the presence of these experiences and respectively reactive and proactive aggression. However, we found a correlation between the impact of childhood maltreatment and reactive aggression. These results suggest that in addition to the cumulative experience of ACEs, the subjective burden of these experiences on individuals must not be underestimated in case of aggression. Additional moderation analysis showed no differences in these relationships in case of less developed versus medium‐high developed reflective functioning. The findings substantiate the importance of early prevention and treatment programs with focus on ACEs to possibly reduce aggression.
... Reflective Functioning Scale (Fonagy et al., 1998;Slade, Bernbach, et al., 2004) applied to interviews (Slade, 2003) 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 ...
... Functioning Questionnaire; Luyten et al., 2017) yield three scores-(1) prementalizing (an inability to consider a child's mental states), (2) interest and curiosity about a child's mental states, and (3) certainty in inferences-while the coding of interviews (Slade, 2003;Slade, Aber, et al., 2004) rates the complexity of reflective functions (Fonagy et al., 1998;Slade, Bernbach, et al., 2004). Concerns regarding the internal consistency of the questionnaire have been raised (see, e.g., Stuhrmann et al., 2022), with Cronbach's alphas reaching as low as .40 ...
Given the relevance of caregivers' perceptions, cognitions, and emotions about their child's mental states for caregiving behavior and children's development, researchers from multiple theoretical perspectives have developed constructs to assess caregivers' cognitions, resulting in a large but scattered body of literature. In this article, we highlight the conceptual overlap among and uniqueness of six constructs assessing caregivers' cognitions about their child at 36 months and younger: infant intentionality, mental representations, mind‐mindedness, parental embodied mentalizing, parental empathy, and parental reflective functioning. We define constructs, present approaches to measurement, and propose elements of importance that fall under the umbrella of caregivers' cognitions and that may be associated differentially with children's early cognitive and social–emotional development. We conclude with recommendations for researchers aiming to capture caregivers' cognitions about their child's mental states, whether focusing on one of the six reviewed constructs or on specific elements (e.g., awareness of the child's mind or accuracy of caregivers' perceptions of their child) under the umbrella of caregivers' cognitions.
... Die Mentalisierungsfähigkeit wurde als "Reflective Functioning" (RF) operationalisiert (Fonagy et al., 1997;1998;Katznelson, 2014) und wird mit der Refective Functioning Scale (RFS), einer empirisch fundierten, interviewbasierten Methode, gemessen. Die RF wird aus den Transkripten des Interviews mit Erwachsenen bezüglich deren Bindungspersonen auf einer 11-Punkte-Skala bewertet (-1 bis 3 = negativ bis wenig, 4 = regelmäßig und 5 bis 9 = mäßig bis stark mentalisierend) (vgl. ...
... auch Bouchard et al., 2008). Die RFS weist eine ausgezeichnete Interrater-Reliabilität und gute Stabilität über die Zeit auf (Fonagy et al., 1997;1998;Taubner et al., 2013). RF muss von einem geschulten und zuverlässigen Codierer für die RFS analysiert werden. ...
Zusammenfassung Die integrierte Versorgung stellt immer den/die Patient:in ins Zentrum und benötigt psychosoziale interprofessionelle Kompetenz. Anhand des Beispiels der Psychothe-rapie, die als klinische, biopsychosoziale Arbeit interdisziplinär versorgungsrelevant konzipiert ist, wird gezeigt, wodurch es für dieses Tätigkeitsfeld umfassende und differenzierte Kompetenzen braucht. Qualifikationsprofil, Lernzieldefinitionen so-wie deren effektive Umsetzung und didaktische Vermittlungsmöglichkeit sind em-pirisch überprüft und werden überblicksartig und beispielhaft vorgestellt. Die Aus-bildung ist praxisrelevant, patient:innen-zentriert mit ausreichender persönlicher Re-flexionskompetenz, die durch Unterricht in der kontinuierlichen Kleingruppe ver-mittelt wird, gestaltet. Auswahlverfahren, Praktikumsplätze berücksichtigen die Er-fordernisse der psychosozialen Versorgung und den akademischen Anspruch. Ar-beitsplatzbasierte Prüfungen und fallorientiertes Feedback entwickeln die Auszubil-denden zu professionellen Arbeitskräften. A priori nötige Grundkompetenzen wer-den vorgestellt und diskutiert, um weitere empirische Forschungsarbeiten und curri-culare Strategien weiter auszuarbeiten. Abstract Integrated care always places the patient at the centre and requires psychosocial in-terprofessional competence. Using the example of psychotherapy, which is conceived as clinical, biopsychosocial work conducted in an interdisciplinary, care-relevant manner, this paper shows why comprehensive, differentiated competencies are required for this field. This paper empirically reviews and presents (including an overview and examples) the qualification profile and learning objective definitions, as well as possibilities for effective implementation and didactic mediation. The training is designed to be practice-relevant and patient-centred, with adequate personal reflection skills, which are trained through teaching in small cohorts. The selection procedures and internships take into account the requirements of psychoso-cial care and academic standards; workplace-based examinations and case-oriented feedback develop the trainees into professional workers; and essential theoretical basic competencies are presented and discussed in order to further expand upon empirical research and curricular strategies.
... The ability to mentalize about past trauma was coded from the TMMI using the Trauma-Specific Reflective Functioning Coding System . This measure includes 20 indicators of moderate to high T-RF grouped according to four core dimensions of reflective functions described in Fonagy's et al., (1998) original coding system: a) Awareness of the nature of mental states; b) Explicit effort to tease out mental states underlying behavior; c) Developmental aspects of mental states; d) Mental states in relation to the interviewer. Like the traditional RF coding system, the T-RF scale ranges from −1 (refusal to engage in T-RF, bizarre discourse and/or hostility towards the interviewer) to 9 (remarkable and exceptional RF), a score of 5 reflecting a basic understanding of how trauma-related mental states influence behaviors, relationships and current functioning. ...
... Like the traditional RF coding system, the T-RF scale ranges from −1 (refusal to engage in T-RF, bizarre discourse and/or hostility towards the interviewer) to 9 (remarkable and exceptional RF), a score of 5 reflecting a basic understanding of how trauma-related mental states influence behaviors, relationships and current functioning. Two coders (1 st and 2 nd authors) trained and certified on the Reflective Functioning Scale (Fonagy et al., 1998) independently coded the transcripts 3. Parent Development Interview. To tap into the mothers' ability to reflect upon their children's mental states as well as their own mental states when interacting with their child we used the Parent Development Interview-Revised Short Form (PDI; Slade et al., 2003) at 16-month postpartum. ...
Resolving trauma may contribute to mental health and parenting in mother with histories of childhood maltreatment. The concept of trauma-specific reflective functioning (T-RF) was developed to assess the complexity of thought processes regarding trauma. The study aimed to validate the T-RF scale applied to the Trauma Meaning-Making Interview by examining its psychometric properties, associations with measures of trauma-processing strategies, maternal reflective functioning and mental health (depression and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), as well as evaluating whether T-RF offered a unique contribution to maternal insightfulness. Good construct validity of the T-RF scale was confirmed in a sample of 112 mothers with histories of childhood maltreatment using an independent coding system of trauma-processing. Better mentalization of trauma was prospectively associated with higher parental reflective functioning and mothers with high T-RF were much more likely to be insightful regarding the child’s mental states than non-reflective mothers and mothers with limited T-RF. The association between T-RF and insightfulness was observed even when controlling for maternal reflective functioning, trauma-processing strategies, maternal education and sociodemographic risk. T-RF was associated neither with depression, PTSD nor the characteristics of trauma. Findings suggest that mentalizing trauma would be an important protective factor in the intergenerational trajectories of trauma.
... Die Mentalisierungsfähigkeit wurde als "Reflective Functioning" (RF) operationalisiert (Fonagy et al., 1997;1998;Katznelson, 2014) und wird mit der Refective Functioning Scale (RFS), einer empirisch fundierten, interviewbasierten Methode, gemessen. Die RF wird aus den Transkripten des Interviews mit Erwachsenen bezüglich deren Bindungspersonen auf einer 11-Punkte-Skala bewertet (-1 bis 3 = negativ bis wenig, 4 = regelmäßig und 5 bis 9 = mäßig bis stark mentalisierend) (vgl. ...
... auch Bouchard et al., 2008). Die RFS weist eine ausgezeichnete Interrater-Reliabilität und gute Stabilität über die Zeit auf (Fonagy et al., 1997;1998;Taubner et al., 2013). RF muss von einem geschulten und zuverlässigen Codierer für die RFS analysiert werden. ...
Die integrierte Versorgung stellt immer den/die Patient:in ins Zentrum und benötigt psychosoziale interprofessionelle Kompetenz. Anhand des Beispiels der Psychotherapie, die als klinische, biopsychosoziale Arbeit interdisziplinär versorgungsrelevant konzipiert ist, wird gezeigt, wodurch es für dieses Tätigkeitsfeld umfassende und differenzierte Kompetenzen braucht. Qualifikationsprofil, Lernzieldefinitionen sowie deren effektive Umsetzung und didaktische Vermittlungsmöglichkeit sind empirisch überprüft und werden überblicksartig und beispielhaft vorgestellt. Die Ausbildung ist praxisrelevant, patient:innen-zentriert mit ausreichender persönlicher Reflexionskompetenz, die durch Unterricht in der kontinuierlichen Kleingruppe vermittelt wird, gestaltet. Auswahlverfahren, Praktikumsplätze berücksichtigen die Erfordernisse der psychosozialen Versorgung und den akademischen Anspruch. Arbeitsplatzbasierte Prüfungen und fallorientiertes Feedback entwickeln die Auszubildenden zu professionellen Arbeitskräften. A priori nötige Grundkompetenzen werden vorgestellt und diskutiert, um weitere empirische Forschungsarbeiten und curriculare Strategien weiter auszuarbeiten.
... The Reflective Functioning Scale (RF; [44]) was scored based on the AAI transcripts by trained blinded coders. Individual differences in RF pertaining to the ability to mentalize in the context of attachment bonds are scored according to an 11-point scale, ranging from − 1 (interviews are completely devoid of mentalization or severely distorting the mental states of others) to 9 (very high RF, interviews show exceptionally complex, elaborate, or original reasoning about mental states). ...
... Along these lines, EWR scores, generally associated with increased reflective functioning, were notably higher in patients rated as hypermentalizers. Hypermentalizers exhibit excessively rich yet unconvincing narratives laden with pseudopsychological jargon [44]. However, in contrast to EWR, neither reflective functioning in general, nor a specific overanalyzing/hypermentalizing narrative style, was significantly associated with suicidal behavior. ...
Background
This study explored the association between emotion word repertoire (EWR), attachment, reflective functioning and personality organization (PO) and suicidal behavior in borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients.
Methods
The current study performed a secondary data analysis from a randomized control trial for BPD patients (all female; n = 87; age: m = 27; SD = 7.42). EWR was assessed via machine-scoring transcripts of Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI) for affective words using the VETA electronic scoring software for the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS). Generated scores were related to impairments in PO (Structured Interview for Personality Organization; STIPO), attachment organization (AAI) and mentalization (Reflective Functioning Scale), general symptom severity (Brief Symptom Inventory; BSI-53), self-harm and suicidal behavior. Independent effects of the investigated predictors were studied using Bayesian path analysis.
Results
Corrected for education, findings in Bayesian path analysis suggest an independent negative association between EWR and suicide attempts (BE = −.32; 95 % CI [-.51, −.12]) and positive associations of deficits in PO with psychiatric symptoms (BE = .23; 95 % CI [.01, .44]) as well as suicide attempts (BE = .30; 95 % CI [.08, .49]).
Discussion
The findings underscore the potential role of high EWR and PO as a protective factor for suicidal behavior in individuals with BPD.
... Mentalization, operationalized as reflective functioning (RF), refers to "the mental process by which an individual implicitly and explicitly interprets the actions of himself and others as meaningful based on intentional mental states such as personal desires, needs, feelings, beliefs, and reasons" (Bateman & Fonagy, 2004, p. XXI). Traditionally, reflective functioning has been measured through the Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS; Fonagy et al., 1998) using narratives from the Adult Attachment Interview (George et al., 1985). However, in 2016, in order to collect more data and to increase the generalizability of the data, Fonagy and colleagues developed the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ; Fonagy et al., 2016), a self-report instrument which evaluates two dimensions of mentalization: the certainty (RFQ_C) and uncertainty (RFQ_U) of mentalization. ...
Background: The intergenerational transmission of violence from the family of origin to couple relationships in adulthood is well-known in the scientific literature. However, the perpetration of isolating behaviors (IBs) is still poorly explored, and additional studies are required to comprehend the mechanisms that intervene in the association between Violence in the family of origin (VFO) and isolating behaviors. Drawing from Fonagy's mentalization model, which describes reflective functioning as the capacity to conceive mental states as explanations for one's own and other people's behavior, the present study aims to examine the mediating role of reflective functioning in the link between VFO and the perpetration of isolating behaviors. Methods: Online self-report questionnaires were completed by 663 Italian participants (66.8% women; Mage = 28.4, SD = 8.5) who were in a couple relationship in the last 12 months. A mediation model was tested to assess the direct and indirect effects of VFO on the perpetration of isolating behaviors through certainty and uncertainty of mentalization. Results: A direct association was found between VFO and the perpetration of isolating behaviors. Furthermore, we found an indirect effect of VFO on the perpetration of the perpetration of isolating behaviors, mediated by the certainty and uncertainty of mentalization. Conclusions: The results demonstrated the mediating role of reflective functioning in the intergenerational transmission of violence and support its implication in the perpetration of isolating behaviors in couple relationships. Although these results are preliminary, they can provide useful data at the theoretical and clinical levels.
... La capacidad de mentalización permite conducirse con madurez, ya que en la medida que se tenga mayor percepción de las ideas, sentimientos y comportamientos en sí mismo y en los otros, hay una mayor regulación de los afectos, lo que se asocia con una sensación de libertad interna (Fonagy, 1998). ...
La mentalización o función reflexiva (FR), es la capacidad que da inicio en la infancia, que permite reconocer y comprender los sentimientos, pensamientos, necesidades, intenciones, deseos, emociones conscientes e inconscientes en sí mismo y en el otro; para dar una interpretación convincente a la propia conducta y de las otras personas. En este artículo se explica el uso de lamentalización como técnica psicoterapéutica con el objetivo de restaurar la función reflexiva en personas que la han perdido, por ejemplo, pacientes traumatizados, con trastorno límite, trastorno de personalidad antisocial, abuso de sustancias, trastornos de alimentación y madres en riesgo y con apego ansioso, resistente o desorganizado. El objetivo de la técnica es reactivar la función reflexiva, con lo que se facilita el aprendizaje social, se propicia las relaciones afectivas, se propicia el abandono de ciclos de reactuacion del trauma, se promueve una mayor percepción de las ideas, sentimientos y comportamientos en sí mismo y en los otros, con lo que hay una mayor regulación de los afectos, que se asocia con una sensación de libertad interna.
... The PDI was validated by comparing the mothers' PRF with measures of adult attachment, assessed through the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and measures of their child's attachment in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth et al., 1978). The narrative obtained with the PDI was coded using the Addendum to Reflective Functioning Scoring Manual for use with the Parent Development Interview (Slade et al., 2004b), an application of the Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS) (Fonagy et al., 1998) initially devised for the AAI. These first investigations revealed how mothers who explicitly reflected on themselves, their attachment history, and their current relationship with their children consistently showed secure adult attachment in the AAI. ...
Parental Reflective Functioning is considered a critical variable, both for the exercise of parenthood and for child development. For some years now, there has been a need for sufficiently sensitive and effective instruments to explore and evaluate Parental Reflective Functioning. This preliminary study presents the construction and validation of a short version of the Parent Development Interview-Revised, which we call Parent Development Interview-Brief. The main objective of this abbreviation is to maintain the semi-structured nature of the interview while decreasing the time needed to administer it. A multicenter and cross-sectional study with a normative sample of 60 mothers of children under five years of age with normotypical development is presented. To analyze the criterion validity of the Parent Development Interview-Brief, participants completed the Cuestionario de Apego Adulto [Adult Attachment Questionnaire] and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The psychometric qualities of the new instrument are discussed, as well as the need for sufficiently sensitive, reliable, and effective tools to tap Parental Reflective Functioning for use in clinical contexts and research.
... The format is divided into four distinct sections: an introductory segment (one question); a trio of questions about the parent-child relationship; another trio focusing on the child; and a final set of five questions centered on the parent. Out of these, 11 are categorized as demand questions, explicitly requiring the application of Reflective Functioning (RF) for evaluation of the parent's competency in this area, as delineated by Fonagy et al. (1998) and Slade et al. (2004). The interview, which lasts around 30 min, is conducted through audio recording and subsequently transcribed word-for-word for detailed coding analysis. ...
Strength‐based video‐feedback (SB‐VF) is an attached base and culturally sensitive video‐feedback intervention which promotes maternal well‐being and sensitivity through using mentalization technics. The goals of this study were to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of internet‐delivered SB‐VF to mother with post‐partum depression during COVID‐19 pandemic. A pilot randomized, two arm controlled trial was conducted (trial registration NCT04748731) with depressive symptoms’ women ( n = 172) from Chilean public primary health centers, 79 were randomized to either experimental group (on‐line SB‐VF plus treatment as usual [TAU], n = 41) or control group (TAU, n = 38). Primary outcomes were feasibility measured by eligibility rate, recruitment rate and intervention completion, and acceptability measured by in depth interviews to mothers and therapists. Secondary outcomes were change in depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity and parental reflective function. The study demonstrated favorable feasibility and acceptability. Despite moderate recruitment rates, the completion rate was notably high in comparison to other online interventions. Participants reported positive experiences, though some faced challenges with internet access and privacy. Maternal sensitivity improved in the intervention group with a small to large effect size. The SB‐VF intervention is feasible and preliminarily effective in public health system, with potential for scaling up in similar contexts.
... In the current study, we examine a specific emotion regulation skill-emotional reflectivitywhich we define here as the ability to understand, verbalize, and reflect about one's own and others' emotions, thoughts, and inner motives. The term borrows from a frequently used term in the clinical literature, reflective functioning (RF), which refers to the ability to conceptualize someone's behavior in terms of intentional mental states such as wishes and desires (Fonagy et al., 1998) and is used in reference to adults (typically parents about their children). The study is innovative in its unique definition of emotional reflectivity and its associations with other developmental processes and its use of a new technique to assess reflectivity using a storytelling procedure. ...
Objective
The study aims to explore a complex and multilayered dynamic, in which relationships within the family are associated with the child's relationships outside the family through the child's reflectivity.
Background
Attachment theory posits that the mother's emotional availability toward her child influences the child's ability to understand and verbalize their own and others' feelings and that this ability is a strong predictor of children's social behavior. This remains relatively understudied during the kindergarten years.
Method
The sample included 146 kindergarten children (81 boys; mean age = 66.84 months). During a home visit, the mother–child dyad was filmed to assess emotional availability, and a researcher interviewed the child (through a storytelling procedure) to assess the child's reflectivity. Additionally, the child's main kindergarten teacher completed questionnaires reporting on the children's verbal abilities and social skills.
Results
We found clear support for connections between the mother–child relationship quality, children's emotional reflectivity capabilities, and children's social behavior in kindergarten.
Conclusions
The findings highlight the importance of relationships within the family context and their contribution to children's early emotional skills and social behavior.
Implications
The study sheds light on children's emotional reflectivity and its associations with the parent–child relationship quality and kindergarten children's social skills. These associations can lead to more informed intervention programs and to emphasizing the advantages of using storytelling techniques to better understand children's emotional capacities.
... Psychosocial adjustment is a concept that includes both psychological and social components and refers to an individual's ability to interact with the environment, adapt to stress and challenges, and effectively perform social roles [20]. RF is essential for social adjustment because it allows us to represent causal mental states, distinguish between internal and external realities, infer the mental states of others from behavioral and situational cues, and regulate behavior and emotional experiences [21]. RF develops from early relationships with caregivers. ...
This study examines the relationship between maternal reflective functioning and adolescents’ reflective functioning and psychosocial adjustment. In Study 1, The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire for Adolescents (PRFQ-A) and Reflective Functioning Questionnaire for Youth (RFQ-Y), multidimensional scales used to assess reflective functioning in parents and adolescents, respectively, were validated in groups of Korean adolescents and mothers. In the results, the three factors were extracted (non-mentalizing, certainty, interest/curiosity) that were similar to those from the original version of the scale. However, the items comprising the interest/curiosity factor of the Korean validated RFQ-Y differed from the original scale. Both the reliability and validity of the scale were confirmed. Study 2 examined the mediating effects of adolescent reflective function on the relationship between parental reflective functioning and adolescent psychosocial adjustment. The structural equation modeling showed a good fit for all three models (adolescents’ uncertainty/confusion, certainty, and interest/curiosity). However, some mediating effects of adolescents’ reflective function were not confirmed. In conclusion, the results indicate that maternal reflective function influences the adolescents’ psychosocial function through the mediating factor of adolescent reflective function, Unexpectedly, maternal interest/curiosity did not have a significant effect on adolescents’ reflective function and psychosocial adjustment. Based on the results, altering Korean mothers’ parenting attitudes may have a positive effect on adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment. This work highlights that further research is needed to understand parent-child relationships in terms of reflective functioning, taking into account the influence of cultural context.
... Whereas questionnaire-based studies distinguish between three dimensions of parental reflective functioning, narrative-based studies usually produce a single score that summarizes the overall quality of parental reflective functioning. In these studies, interviews with parents about their relationship with their child are transcribed and coded using the Reflective Functioning Scale (Fonagy et al., 1998), which has been adapted for various interview formats (Schechter et al., 2005;Slade et al., 2003;Slade & Sleed, 2024). Although the scoring process considers different dimensions of reflective functioning, the result is typically a single, overall score for parental reflective functioning. ...
Autonomy-supportive parenting benefits adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment, but daily fluctuations in adolescent difficulties and parenting stress can reduce autonomy support and lead to more controlling practices. However, currently it is not yet well understood why some parents seem better able to deal with the daily upheavals characteristic of adolescence, while other parents may resort to controlling practices. To address this gap, the present studies examined the moderating role of parental reflective functioning (i.e., parents’ capacity to understand their adolescent’s behavior in terms of mental states) in the daily relationships between adolescent difficulties, parental stress, and autonomy-supportive or controlling parenting. Two 7-day diary studies were conducted, of which Study 1 involved 220 parents of early adolescents (Mage = 13.05 years, SD = 0.87, range 10–15, 66% female) and Study 2 involved 161 parents of middle adolescents (Mage = 15.56 years, SD = 1.14, range = 13–18, 61.5% female). Multilevel analyses indicated that daily perceived externalizing difficulties and parental stress were associated with less autonomy-supportive and more controlling parenting. Furthermore, prementalizing (i.e., attributing malevolent intentions to adolescents) predicted less autonomy support and more controlling parenting. Greater interest and curiosity about adolescents’ mental states buffered the associations between middle adolescents’ (internalizing and externalizing) difficulties and parent-reported controlling parenting. These findings highlight the role of both parent and adolescent characteristics in day-to-day parenting fluctuations and underscore the importance of parental reflective functioning in understanding variations in autonomy-supportive and controlling practices.
... It should be stressed that the application of computerized AI models reach beyond the domain of cognitive therapy. From a psychoanalytic treatment perspective, these models could be used to assess the degree of the referential process (MCT; Bucci, 1997), Reflective Functioning (RF; Fonagy et al., 1998) or expand the work from cognitive distortions to defense mechanisms (Bowins, 2004;Cramer, 2015). From a common factors perspective, this would entail the assessment of alliance (e.g., Aafjes-van Doorn et al., 2020b) or therapeutic self-disclosure (e.g., Shapira & Alfi-Yogev, 2024). ...
Background
Based on previous work on the identification of cognitive distortions in language data, we aim to predict patient depression symptoms by identifying cognitive distortions in their psychotherapy transcripts. Further, using explainable AI we want to create a machine learning model that can be used to identify important distortions, allowing us to assess the most important distortions across the whole dataset and for individual patients.
Methods
We identified 14 cognitive distortions by modifying lists of representative n-grams created by Bathina et al. (Nat Hum Behav 5(4):458–466, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01050-7). Based on these n-grams, the relative frequency of the distortions was calculated across 552 transcripts of 124 patients and employed to predict patient depression symptoms. Further, we joined all distortions in an exploratory explainable AI model, combining various machine learning algorithms in a nested cross-validation framework for the prediction of depression symptoms.
Results
Depression severity and occurrence were predicted by the distortions personalizing (r=.13), dichotomous thinking (r=.11), and overgeneralizing (r=.10), while occurrence was additionally predicted by mental filtering. The joined machine learning model achieved a moderate performance of r=.29. Using explainable AI, we identified the distortions with the highest feature impact in the combined model (i.e., dichotomous reasoning, minimization, personalizing, mindreading, and mental filtering) and were able to explain the prediction for individual transcripts.
Conclusions
This approach illustrates how language-based measures can identify relevant processes that predict depression symptoms. This may improve our understanding of the effects of cognitive distortions and may be utilized to create feedback to therapists. Limitations prevail due to small effect sizes and the exploratory approach of this study.
... Historically, the majority of available measures for PRF and Mentalizing were interviews [19], such as a specialized version of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) or the Parent Development Interview (PDI). While these measures allow for very detailed information and data analysis, their time-intensive nature makes them unsuitable for large-scale assessments [3]. ...
Introduction
Parental Reflective Functioning describes the parents’ ability to view their child as motivated by mental states. The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) represents an 18-item and three-factor self-report measure. Our goal was to conduct the first German validation study.
Method
In a community sample of 378 mothers of children aged 10.2–78.6 months, we used Confirmatory Factor Analysis with a cross-validation approach to assess model fit. Reliability was measured using Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω. Concurrent validity was assessed using correlations with relevant constructs.
Results
The three-factor structure of the original validation could be confirmed. The German model only needed minor modifications: two items had to be removed, and one error covariance was added. The resulting 16-item questionnaire with the three subscales “Pre-mentalizing”, “Interest and Curiosity about Mental States”, and “Certainty about Mental States” was successfully cross-validated (CFI = .94, TLI = .93, SRMR = .07, RMSEA = .04 (CI [.01, .06])). These factors were related in theoretically expected ways to parental attachment dimensions, emotional availability, parenting stress, and infant attachment status.
Conclusion
While reliability could still be improved, the German 16-item version of the PRFQ represents a valid measure of parental reflective functioning.
... For example, including measures for the IPC or the five-factor model of personality (Digman, 1990) could enable a more precise measurement and nuanced interpretation of the specific factors. It may also be fruitful to include measures that directly influenced the construction of the LPFS and overlap with Kernberg's model of personality organization, such as the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale-Global Rating Method (Stein & Slavin-Mulford, 2017) or the Reflective Functioning Scale (Fonagy et al., 1998), or that capture the constructs described there based on performance in tests. Based on the latter approach, the authors found that impairments in cognitive empathy (i.e., mentalizing emotions of others) correlated strongly with general personality pathology but incrementally also with psychoticism and DSM-5 Section II Cluster A PDs (Ohse et al., 2024). ...
Both Kernberg's model of personality organization and the alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th edition provide a multidimensional framework for assessing personality pathology, while having a dual focus on general and specific personality pathology. The present study was the first to investigate the empirical convergence between measures of personality organization and the AMPD (personality functioning and pathological personality traits), considering general and specific personality pathology. A mixed clinical sample completed self-reports for personality organization, personality functioning and pathological personality traits, as well as an interview for personality organization. Two bifactor models with three specific exploratory factors were estimated, comprising a self-report model based on domain scores using exploratory factor analysis (n = 336) and a multi-method model predominantly based on subdomain scores applying exploratory structural equation modelling (n = 277). Both bifactor models yielded strong general factors with high loadings of the personality organization domains identity and primitive defences, as well as the personality functioning domains. The specific factors suggest convergence between other-directed aggression (personality organization), restricted moral functioning (personality organization) and antagonism (pathological personality traits), between diminished reality testing (personality organization) and psychoticism (pathological personality traits) and between maladaptive object relations (personality organization), impaired interpersonal functioning (personality functioning) and detachment (pathological personality traits). It can be concluded that measures of personality organization and the AMPD strongly converge regarding both general and specific personality pathology. Kernberg's model of personality organization may serve as a valuable complement to the AMPD, guiding forthcoming research and the clinical assessment of personality pathology.
... Esposito et al. 4 Therefore, it is possible to note the close link between ET and mentalization (or reflective functioning), that is the capacity to interpret oneself's and others' behaviors in terms of mental states such as emotions, thoughts, intentions (Fonagy et al., 1998), since mentalization allows both the recognition of intentionality and the opening of ET, additionally enabling individuals to reflect on their own interpersonal relationship patterns (Esposito et al., 2023;Esposito et al., 2024). However, this is also closely related to attachment, i.e. the emotional bond between children and their caregivers characterized by behaviors aimed at achieving and maintaining mutual closeness (Bowlby, 1973). ...
Negli ultimi anni i bisogni di salute mentale degli studenti universitari appaiono sempre più improntati al supporto psicologico, come evidenziato dalla crescente domanda verso i servizi di counselling universitario. Pertanto, è necessario che essi si basino su una rigorosa attività di ricerca. In una prospettiva di Psicologia Clinica della Salute, il presente studio ha analizzato, in termini di clima e impatto delle sessioni, il processo di tre gruppi di counselling condotti con studenti che si sono rivolti al centro SInAPSi dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, al fine di esplorare se un miglior andamento delle variabili processuali si rilevi nei gruppi che riportano una migliore efficacia in termini di benessere psicologico, funzione riflessiva, enga-gement accademico e performance accademica. I risultati hanno evidenziato che il gruppo ca-ratterizzato da outcome migliori, soprattutto in relazione a engagement e benessere, presenta anche un processo più armonico. È possibile dunque ipotizzare che, al fine di promuovere il benessere psicologico degli studenti, sia necessario prestare attenzione tanto all'esito quanto al processo, poiché essi sembrano essere strettamente interconnessi.
... The concept of mentalization is multidimensional and overlaps with several constructs, such as theory of mind (ToM), mindfulness, perspective-taking, and empathy [11]. The term RF describes the psychological processes that underlie the ability to mentalize and provides a framework for assessing mentalization [12]. ...
Background
Sexual offenses encompass a diverse array of behaviors across various contexts, affecting numerous individuals. Despite the prevalence of sexual offending among adolescents, there is still a limited understanding of this population. To contribute further to the literature in this field, the present study was conducted to compare a group of male adolescents convicted of sexual offenses with a control group in terms of reflective functioning (RF), emotion regulation (ER) strategies, and emotion dysregulation (ED).
Methods
60 male adolescents aged 12 to 18 years (M = 16.90; SD = 0.97) who had been convicted of at least one serious sexual offense were recruited from male adolescents referred by juvenile courts to the Legal Medicine Organization in Mashhad, Iran, and compared with a control group of non-offending adolescents consisting of 60 male adolescents aged 12 to 18 years (M = 16.97; SD = 0.82) who were attending school. The groups were matched on age and education level.
Results
A comparison between these two groups revealed that adolescents with a history of sexual offending exhibited poorer RF capacity, greater use of suppression as an ER strategy, and higher scores in all ED domains (p’s < 0.001) except non-acceptance of emotional responses compared with the control group.
Conclusions
Results suggest that RF, ER strategies, and ED need to be considered as important psychological factors in understanding and treating adolescents with a history of sexual offending.
... Then after receiving another tapping cue from the camera person (usually three tapping sounds made by tapping on the camera) the caregiver is signaled to return the desired toy of interest to the child for the last minute of play. (Fonagy et al., 1998).Given the gold standard requires 1-2 hours per parent interview, followed by 1 hour to check automated transcriptions, and 3 hours of coding per interview (~6 hours total), the use of the PRFQ reduces parent burden, costs, and is feasible to implement in agencies. ...
Background
Exposure to early childhood adversities, such as family violence, parental depression, or low-income, undermine parent-child relationship quality and attachment leading to developmental and mental health problems in children. Addressing impacts of early childhood adversity can promote children’s development, giving them the best start in life. Parental reflective function (RF), or parents' ability to understand their own and children's mental states, can strengthen parent-child relationships and attachment and buffer the negative effects of early adversity. We developed and tested ATTACH™ (Attachment and Child Health), an effective RF intervention program for parents and their preschool-aged children at-risk from early adversity. Pilot studies revealed significantly positive impacts of ATTACH™ from in-person (n = 90 dyads) and online (n = 10 dyads) implementation. The two objectives of this study are to evaluate: (1) effectiveness, and (2) implementation fidelity and uptake of ATTACH™ Online in community agencies serving at-risk families in Alberta, Canada. Our primary hypothesis is ATTACH™ Online improves children’s development. Secondary hypotheses examine whether ATTACH™ Online improves children’s mental health, parent-child relationships, and parental RF.
Methods
We will conduct an effectiveness-implementation hybrid (EIH) type 2 study. Effectiveness will be examined with a quasi-experimental design while implementation will be examined via descriptive quantitative and qualitative methods informed by Normalization Process Theory (NPT). Effectiveness outcomes examine children’s development and mental health, parent-child relationships, and RF, measured before, after, and 3 months post-intervention. Implementation outcomes include fidelity and uptake of ATTACH™ Online, assessed via tailored tools and qualitative interviews using NPT, with parents, health care professionals, and administrators from agencies. Power analysis revealed recruitment of 100 families with newborn to 36-month-old children are sufficient to test the primary hypothesis on 80 complete data sets. Data saturation will be employed to determine final sample size for the qualitative component, with an anticipated maximum of 20 interviews per group (parents, heath care professionals, administrators).
Discussion
This study will: (1) determine effectiveness of ATTACH™ Online and 2) understand mechanisms that promote implementation fidelity and uptake of ATTACH™ Online. Findings will be useful for planning spread and scale of an effective program poised to reduce health and social inequities affecting vulnerable families.
Trial registration
Name of registry: https://clinicaltrials.gov/.
Registration number: NCT05994027
... Both Katznelson et al. (2020) and Jewell et al. (2023b) found baseline RF to predict later therapeutic alliance scores in adult and adolescent eating disorders samples respectively, whilst RF has also predicted treatment outcome in adults with eating disorders (Kuipers et al., 2017). However, the assessment of RF through available observer-rated measures such as the RF Scale (Fonagy et al., 1998) applied to the Adult Attachment Interview (George et al., 1985) or transcripts of therapy sessions (e.g. Talia et al., 2019) is time-consuming, reducing the feasibility of evaluating mentalization in either routine clinical practice or research settings such as largescale epidemiological studies . ...
Mentalizing difficulties are an established correlate of eating disorders, but there is a need to establish the validity and reliability of easy-to-administer instruments to measure the construct in adolescents. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a five-item version of the Reflective Function Questionnaire for Youth (RFQY-5) in a sample of adolescents with restrictive eating disorders recruited for a prospective observational study. Adolescents completed the 46-item version of the RFQ-Y at the start of treatment (T1) (n = 171) and nine months later (n = 51). The factor structure, internal reliability and convergent validity of the RFQY-5 were assessed at T1. Sensitivity to change was assessed in a subsample of n = 51 who completed the RFQ-Y nine months after the start of treatment (T2). At T1, the RFQY-5 demonstrated inadequate internal reliability (McDonald’s Omega = 0.657) and poor model fit for the unidimensional structure (Χ²(5) = 29.98; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.801; TLI = 0.602; RMSEA = 0.171; SRMR = 0.070). Convergent validity was partially supported. The RFQY-5 was not sensitive to change. The RFQY-5 was found to have inadequate psychometric properties in adolescents with restrictive eating disorders. Psychometric studies are needed to further develop valid and reliable measures of mentalizing for this population.
... In den letzten Jahren wurden mehrere Instrumente zur operationalisierten Abbildung psychodynamischer Kon-zepte entwickelt, z. B. das Strukturierte Interview zur Persönlichkeitsorganisation (STIPO) (Clarkin et al. 2016;Hörz-Sagstetter & Doering 2021), die Skalen Psychischer Kompetenzen (SPK) (Wallerstein et al. 1989;Huber et al. 2006) sowie die Reflective Function Scale (RF) als Operationalisierung der Mentalisierungsfähigkeit (Fonagy et al. 1998;Taubner et al. 2013). Diese Instrumente erfordern jedoch alle hochgradig strukturierte Interviews. ...
... Reflective Function Scale (Fonagy et al., 1998), which is considered to be the "gold standard" for assessing mentalization but requires extensive training and time-consuming analyses before providing results. MentS builds on three factors, MentS-Self (MentS-S, 8 items) and MentS-Others (MentS-O, 10 items) assessing the ability to mentalize one self 's or other people's minds, and MentS-Motivation (MentS-M, 10 items) assessing the respondent's motivation to mentalize about other people. ...
Social–emotional development is a key factor in child well-being and development, and studying how it can be supported in early childhood is crucial. This study acted as a second trial testing the efficacy of a shared story book reading intervention combined with mentalizing discussions (SAGA), on children’s (N = 196) social–emotional development. In contrast to the first trial, the current trial utilized a group comprised of mostly multilingual children, attending daycare in a minority language. In addition, we investigated the effect of the intervention on the mentalizing capacity of the staff. The staff of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers were trained to lead discussions about story characters’ mental states with children three times a week. The staff’s mentalization ability was measured by the self-reported Mentalization Scale (MentS). Children’s social–emotional development was evaluated via the teacher-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire SDQ, and verbal fluency via a subtest from the NEPSY II neuropsychological test battery. After 12 weeks, the children in the SAGA group showed improvement in prosocial behavior, whereas no change was observed in the control group. Furthermore, within the SAGA group, the children showing initially lower scores for prosocial behavior displayed larger improvement compared to their peers with higher scores at baseline. No such intervention-based improvement emerged in verbal fluency. Unlike in the first trial, the intervention did not have an impact on children’s internalizing or externalizing problems. The results suggest that story reading sessions combined with mentalizing discussions about emotions, thoughts, and intentions of the story characters may support children’s social–emotional development within the realm of prosocial behavior, although the possibility to decrease children’s internalizing and externalizing problems with these sessions remains unclear based on the two trials. In addition, training the ECEC staff in mentalization theory and guiding them toward mind-related dialogs improved staff motivation to mentalize, as well as their child-related mentalization capacity.
... Overmentalization errors are considered when the attribution of the other's mental states is excessive (e.g., the person base his/her inferences on excessively complex and improbable explanations, increasing the possibility of potential relational conflicts). On the contrary, errors of undermentalization and absence of mentalization refer to impairments in developing complex models of the mind of oneself and others (Fonagy et al., 1998;Lahera et al., 2014). ...
Aim:
Deficits in mentalization have been described in several mental disorders, but information is still scarce and ambiguous about the types of mentalization errors in each disorder and their specificity and severity in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Due to the high comorbidity between this disorder and axis I disorders, the aim of this work is to study differences in mentalization responses in BPD considering the different comorbidity profiles with other disorders.
Methods:
A total of 141 BPD patients were evaluated using The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), to identify comorbid axis I disorders. Mentalizing ability was assessed by the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). Statistical associations were analysed into the different variables.
Results:
Patients with comorbid BPD and anorexia nervosa (AN), suicidal behaviour disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) respectively presented higher overmentalization, undermentalization and absence of mentalization errors, compared with patients with BPD without comorbidity.
Conclusions:
Results show that BPD comorbidity with AN, suicidal behaviour disorder and PTSD affect to the types and severity of mentalizing deficits observed in these patients. This study highlights the importance of the assessment and treatment of axis I comorbid disorders in borderline personality disorder, with the objective of shaping personalized treatment for every patient.
Zusammenfassung
Die Brief Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) ist ein 16-stündiges manualisiertes Psychotherapieverfahren mit psychodynamischem Hintergrund. Im Fokus steht die Bearbeitung eines maladaptiven Beziehungsmusters, das als Ursache der Symptome begriffen wird. Inwiefern Veränderungen im Funktionsniveau der psychischen Abwehr eine Rolle spielen, wurde bislang nicht untersucht und soll an einem Einzelfall herausgearbeitet werden. Hierzu wurden 11 Sitzungen aus verschiedenen Therapiephasen mithilfe der Defense Mechanism Rating Scales Q‑sort analysiert. Die Symptombelastung, die therapeutische Beziehung und die Mentalisierungsfähigkeit wurden vor jeder Sitzung erhoben. Es zeigte sich beim Patienten ein stabiles und adaptives Muster der Abwehr mit unsystematischen Schwankungen. Die Outcome-Instrumente lassen auf einen erfolgreichen Verlauf der Behandlung schließen. Es bleibt zu diskutieren, ob adaptive Funktionsniveaus der Abwehr ein Behandlungsziel oder vielmehr eine Behandlungsvoraussetzung für die DIT darstellen.
Johdanto: Vanhemmuuden reflektiivinen kyky voi toimia suojaavana tekijänä siirtymässä raskauden ajalta pikkulapsivaiheeseen. Siitä on kuitenkin on toistaiseksi vähän pitkittäistutkimuksia, joissa olisi erikseen huomioitu isät ja äidit. Tässä tutkimuksessa 1) vertasimme suomalaisia isejä ja äitejä reflektiivisen kyvyn keskiarvojen suhteen, sekä tutkimme 2) yhteyksiä sosioekonomisiin tausta muuttujiin ja hyvinvointiin, ja 3) reflektiivisen kyvyn pysyvyyttä raskauden ajalta kolmen kuukauden, vuoden ja kahden vuoden ikään. Menetelmät: Tutkittavat olivat 380 ensisynnyttäjää (76 isää ja 304 äitiä), jotka osallistuivat Families First -seurantatutkimukseen. Mittareina käytettiin standardoituja kyselylomakkeita. Tulokset: Äitien reflektiivinen kyky oli joiltain osin systemaattisesti korkeampaa kuin isien eri ikävaiheissa. Se yhdistyi äideillä raskauden aikana isejä selkeämmin sosioekonomisiin taustatekijöihin. Molemmilla vanhemmilla löytyi merkitseviä yhteyksiä reflektiivisen kyvyn ja oman hyvinvoinnin välillä, erityisesti vauvan ensimmäisen ikävuoden aikana. Vanhemmuuden reflektiivinen kyky oli perhekohtaisesti yhteydessä toisiinsa ja pysyvää, äideillä jo raskauden ajalta alkaen. Johtopäätökset: Varhaiset perheinterventiot kohdistuen vanhemmuuden reflektiiviseen ja hyvinvointiin kykyyn tulisi kohdentaa koko perheeseen, isien ja äitien esille tulleet erot huomioiden.
This study investigated the experiences of adoptive parents in Italy, focusing on
the legal, psychological and social dimensions of adoption. An online questionnaire
was used to explore different facets of the adoption process, including pre-adoption
concerns and post-adoption adjustment process. Key findings highlight the prevalence
of international adoption, the emotional journey of adoptive parents and the critical
role of social support. The study highlights the importance of open communication
about adoption, the need for specialist support services and the resilience of adoptive
families. The findings of this research aim to inform policy, practice and future research by highlighting the unique challenges faced by adoptive parents in Italy.
The author discusses the psychotherapy of a 41-year-old Caucasian man who complained of a somatic symptom characterized as an “energy” that formulated the words, “I’m gay.” A practitioner of yogic philosophy, the patient came to believe that someone—perhaps a priest—had sexually abused him at age 8 or 9. The author assesses the patient’s attachment relationships to his parents and to his Higher Power and then discusses their similarities and differences. The author also discusses the attachment-informed interventions that have propelled the treatment forward, ending the article by posing spiritual and emotional questions that linger in the patient’s ongoing treatment.
Bu tez, kişilik örgütlenmesi ile duygu düzenleme arasındaki ilişkide mentalizasyonun ve reddedilme duyarlılığının aracı rollerini incelemektedir. Geniş bir kuramsal çerçeveden yararlanılarak, kişilik örgütlenme düzeyleri ile duygu düzenleme becerileri arasındaki karmaşık dinamikler ve mentalizasyon ile reddedilme duyarlılığının bu ilişkilerde nasıl bir aracı rol oynadığına odaklanılmıştır. Çalışma, nicel yöntem kullanarak değişkenler arası etkileşimleri değerlendirmiştir. Demografik verilere dair bulgulara göre, katılımcıların yaş, cinsiyet, gelir, ilişki ve evlilik durumu, psikoterapiye ve psikiyatriye başvurma gibi özellikleri, değişkenlerin ve alt boyutlarının önemli bir kısmı ile anlamlı ilişkiler göstermiştir. Korelasyon analizi ile tüm değişkenler arasında anlamlı ilişkiler bulunmuştur. Aracılık analizi, kişilik örgütlenmesinin duygu düzenleme becerilerini yordadığını ve mentalizasyonun ve reddedilme duyarlılığının bu ilişkiye ayrı ayrı aracılık ettiğini, kişilik örgütlenmesinin mentalizasyonu ve reddedilme duyarlılığını, mentalizasyonun ve reddedilme duyarlılığının da duygu düzenlemeyi yordadığını ortaya koymuştur. Bu sonuçlar, kişilik yapılarının ve psikolojik sağlığın karmaşıklığını vurgulamakta, kişiliğin psikodinamik öğelerine ve kişilik örgütlenmesinin etkilerine dair daha derin bir anlayış sağlamakta ve psikoterapide kişilik örgütlenmesi, mentalizasyon kapasiteleri ve reddedilme duyarlılığının önemini vurgulamaktadır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Kişilik Örgütlenmesi (Kişilik Organizasyonu), Duygu Düzenleme, Mentalizasyon (Zihinselleştirme), Reddedilme Duyarlılığı, Psikodinamik Psikoloji
ABSTRACT
Personality Organization and Emotion Regulation: The Mediating Roles of Mentalization and Rejection Sensitivity
This thesis examines the mediating roles of mentalization and rejection sensitivity in the relationship between personality organization and emotion regulation. Drawing on a broad theoretical framework, the focus is on the complex dynamics between levels of personality organization and emotion regulation skills and how mentalization and rejection sensitivity mediate these relationships. The study evaluated the interactions between variables using quantitative methodology. According to the findings on demographic data, the participants' characteristics such as age, gender, income, relationship and marital status, psychotherapy and psychiatry consultation showed significant relationships with most of the variables and their sub-dimensions. Correlation analysis identified significant relationships between all variables. Mediation analysis revealed that personality organization predicted emotion regulation skills and mentalization and rejection sensitivity mediated this relationship separately, personality organization predicted mentalization and rejection sensitivity, and mentalization and rejection sensitivity predicted emotion regulation. These results highlight the complexity of personality structures and psychological health, provide a deeper understanding of the psychodynamic elements of personality and the effects of personality organization, and emphasize the importance of personality organization, mentalization capacities, and rejection sensitivity in psychotherapy.
Keywords: Personality Organization, Emotion Regulation, Mentalization, Rejection Sensitivity, Psychodynamic Psychology
The importance of parental self-efficacy for parental and child well-being is well documented. Many studies demonstrate the significant positive relationship between collective efficacy and self-efficacy. Fewer studies have pointed to the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. The present study aims to fill the knowledge gap by examining two such underlying mechanisms that constitute the essence of the parent–child relationship: pre-mentalization as the parent’s cognitive ability to interpret the child’s internal world and avoidant attachment as the parent’s emotional ability to be in a close relationship with the child. A survey was conducted with 262 married Israeli parents with children under the age of 12. Participants completed self-report questionnaires on collective efficacy, mentalizing ability, avoidant attachment style, and parental self-efficacy. In order to test the mediating role of parental mentalizing ability and avoidant attachment in the association between parental and collective efficacy, a mediation analysis with cross-sectional design was conducted using model 6 PROCESS 3.4 macro for SPSS. Results confirmed the direct relation between collective and parental self-efficacy. Additionally, results indicated a significant indirect effect of this association through low levels of pre-mentalization and avoidant attachment style. The results are discussed in light of the cyclical psychodynamic perspective, with recommendations for interventions that are set to improve parental self-efficacy.
The present study aims at investigating conditions underlying positive interactions and relationships in the context of early child care. The study focuses on interindividual differences in caregivers‘ attachment and mentalizing capacities. In a sample of N = 66 early childhood teachers in Germany, attachment representations were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview. In order to assess the teachers’ mentalizing capacities, based on the revised Parent Development Interview a semi-structured interview was developed, administered and coded using the Reflective Functioning Scale. To assess teachers‘ emotional distress the interviews were coded using the Assessment of Representational Risk. Teachers with secure attachment representations achieved the highest RF scores. Emotional distress had little impact on the mentalizing capacities of caregivers with secure and dismissing attachment. In contrast, the mentalizing capacities of caregivers with preoccupied attachment were impaired with increased emotional distress. The results indicate that attachment security influences how early childhood teachers perceive, appraise and interpret current relationships with the children. In particular, in teachers with preoccupied attachment emotional distress seems to have a moderating effect. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Gastherausgabe "Bindung und Mentalisieren als Aspekte wirksamer pädagogischer Handlungs- und Beziehungskompetenz" Empirische Pädagogik 2024 – 38 (3). Gefördert durch Movetia – Austausch und Mobilität. Movetia Projektnummer: 022-1-CH01-IP-0046 sowie durch die Aebli-Näf-Stiftung zur Förderung der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung.
Introduction
Major gaps remain in our knowledge regarding childhood sexual abuse (CSA) related symptoms in adolescent psychiatric inpatients, as well as potential resilience factors like mentalizing. CSA is a risk factor for the early emergence of borderline personality features, posttraumatic stress, and sexual concerns. Mentalizing, which involves the capacity to understand our reactions and that of others in psychological terms, is a resilience factor for self and interpersonal functioning. The aim of this study was to address knowledge gaps by examining the contributions of CSA and mentalizing in a latent factor composed of borderline personality features, posttraumatic stress, and sexual concerns in a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients. We hypothesized that CSA and mentalizing would independently explain the variance in this latent factor.
Method
Participants were 273 adolescents aged 12–17 recruited from an adolescent inpatient psychiatric clinic. They completed the Reflective Function Questionnaire for Youth (RFQ-Y), the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC), and the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-C). CSA was assessed using the Child Attachment Interview (CAI), the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (C-DISC), as well as the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).
Results
27.5% of adolescent psychiatric inpatients reported CSA. CSA and mentalizing were independently associated with a latent factor consisting of posttraumatic stress, borderline personality features, and sexual concerns. CSA explained 5.0% and RF explained 16.7% of the variance of the latent factor. When we consider both the unique and the shared contribution of CSA and mentalizing, the model explained 23.0% of the variance of this factor.
Discussion
CSA and mentalizing independently explained variance in a latent factor constituted of borderline personality features, posttraumatic stress, and sexual concerns. The direct effect of mentalizing was stronger and mentalizing explained comparatively more variance of trauma-related symptoms in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. The findings are consistent with the theory that mentalizing is an internal resilience factor in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. By implication, clinical interventions focused on promoting the development of mentalizing, such as Mentalization Based Treatment, may palliate mental health difficulties manifested by adolescent psychiatric inpatients including those associated with CSA.
Objectives
Two key parental reflective capacities—mindful parenting (MP) and parental reflective functioning (PRF) — have been shown to promote healthy parent-child relationships through parents’ increased sensitivity and responsiveness to their children’s needs in spite of parenting stressors. Despite the theoretical overlap between these two constructs, researchers have continued to examine them independently. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review was to review the overlapping and distinctive outcomes and correlates in the empirical MP and PRF literatures.
Method
A comprehensive literature search across the MP and PRF literature for studies published from 2005 through early 2020 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic) was conducted.
Results
A review of 301 articles (n = 180 MP and n = 121 PRF) revealed overlapping study outcomes and correlates, including improvement in parent and child well-being, parenting behaviors, and attachment. Both MP and PRF literatures suggest MP and PRF are amenable to intervention-induced changes, although mostly documented in White mothers, which results may not be generalizable to diverse populations.
Conclusions
Researchers should consider the impact MP and PRF have on positive family relationships. Results suggest that scholars should consider investigating and intervening on MP and PRF simultaneously. Specifically, results identified MP and PRF convergent associations and perhaps synergistic impacts on positive parenting behaviors. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
Preregistration
This review was not preregistered.
The relation of patterns of attachment and psychiatric status was studied in 82 nonpsychotic inpatients and 85 case-matched controls using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). AAI transcripts rated (masked to case vs. control status and treatment) were classified using M. Main and R. Goldwyn's (unpublished manuscript) system. Psychiatric patients, diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview for
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.) I and II structured interviews, were more likely to be classified as preoccupied and unresolved with respect to loss or abuse. On Axis 1, anxiety was associated with unresolved status, and AAI scales were able to discriminate depression and eating disorder. On Axis II, borderline personality disorder (BPD) was linked to experience of severe trauma and lack of resolution with respect to it. BPD patients were also rated significantly lower on a scale measuring awareness of mental states. Preliminary outcome results suggest that individuals rated as dismissing on the AAI are more likely to show improvements in psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article introduces a single-item scale, the Affect Grid, designed as a quick means of assessing affect along the dimensions of pleasure–displeasure and arousal–sleepiness. The Affect Grid is potentially suitable for any study that requires judgments about affect of either a descriptive or a subjective kind. The scale was shown to have adequate reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity in 4 studies in which college students used the Affect Grid to describe (a) their current mood, (b) the meaning of emotion-related words, and (c) the feelings conveyed by facial expressions. Other studies (e.g., J. Snodgrass et al; see record
1989-13842-001) are cited to illustrate the potential uses of the Affect Grid as a measure of mood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
An anniversary edition of a classic in cognitive science, with a new introduction by the author.
When Brainstorms was published in 1978, the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science was just emerging. Daniel Dennett was a young scholar who wanted to get philosophers out of their armchairs—and into conversations with psychologists, linguists, computer scientists. This collection of seventeen essays by Dennett offers a comprehensive theory of mind, encompassing traditional issues of consciousness and free will. Using careful arguments and ingenious thought experiments, the author exposes familiar preconceptions and hobbling intuitions. The essays are grouped into four sections: “Intentional Explanation and Attributions of Mentality”; “The Nature of Theory in Psychology”; “Objects of Consciousness and the Nature of Experience”; and “Free Will and Personhood.”
This anniversary edition includes a new introduction by Dennett, “Reflections on Brainstorms after Forty Years,” in which he recalls the book's original publication by Harry and Betty Stanton of Bradford Books and considers the influence and afterlife of some of the essays. For example, “Mechanism and Responsibility” was Dennett's first articulation of his concept of the intentional stance; “Are Dreams Experiences?” anticipates the major ideas in his 1991 book Consciousness Explained; and “Where Am I?” has been variously represented in a BBC documentary, a student's Javanese shadow puppet play, and a feature-length film made in the Netherlands, Victim of the Brain.
Epidemiologists and psychoanalysts have been equally concerned about the intergenera‐tional concordance of disturbed patterns of attachment. Mary Main's introduction of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) has provided the field with an empirical tool for examining the concordance of parental and infant attachment patterns. In the context of a prospective study of the influence of parental patterns of attachment assessed before the birth of the first child upon the child's pattern of attachment to that parent at 1 year and at 18 months, the Anna Freud Centre—University College London Parent‐Child Project reported a significant level of concordance between parental security and the infant's security with that parent. In the context of this study, a new measure, aiming to assess the parent's capacity for understanding mental states, was developed and is reported on in this paper. The rating of Reflective‐Self Function, based upon AAI transcripts, correlated significantly with infant security classification based on Strange Situation assessments. The philosophical background and clinical importance of the measure are discussed.
Ethological attachment theory is a landmark of 20th century social and behavioral sciences theory and research. This new paradigm for understanding primary relationships across the lifespan evolved from John Bowlby's critique of psychoanalytic drive theory and his own clinical observations, supplemented by his knowledge of fields as diverse as primate ethology, control systems theory, and cognitive psychology. By the time he had written the first volume of his classic Attachment and Loss trilogy, Mary D. Salter Ainsworth's naturalistic observations in Uganda and Baltimore, and her theoretical and descriptive insights about maternal care and the secure base phenomenon had become integral to attachment theory. Patterns of Attachment reports the methods and key results of Ainsworth's landmark Baltimore Longitudinal Study. Following upon her naturalistic home observations in Uganda, the Baltimore project yielded a wealth of enduring, benchmark results on the nature of the child's tie to its primary caregiver and the importance of early experience. It also addressed a wide range of conceptual and methodological issues common to many developmental and longitudinal projects, especially issues of age appropriate assessment, quantifying behavior, and comprehending individual differences. In addition, Ainsworth and her students broke new ground, clarifying and defining new concepts, demonstrating the value of the ethological methods and insights about behavior. Today, as we enter the fourth generation of attachment study, we have a rich and growing catalogue of behavioral and narrative approaches to measuring attachment from infancy to adulthood. Each of them has roots in the Strange Situation and the secure base concept presented in Patterns of Attachment. It inclusion in the Psychology Press Classic Editions series reflects Patterns of Attachment's continuing significance and insures its availability to new generations of students, researchers, and clinicians.
In three experiments, children aged 3 to 7 years were tested for their understanding of the impact of beliefs and desires on emotion. Children watched while animal characters were offered various types of container and then predicted their emotional reaction. In Experiment 1, the children (but not the characters) knew that the desirable contents of each container had been removed. The majority of 6-year-olds and a minority of 4-year-olds understood that the characters would be happy with the gift, given their mistaken belief about its contents. In Experiment 2, characters were given containers apparently containing an object they wanted but really containing an object they did not want, or vice versa. Predictions of emotion based on both the desire and the mistaken belief of the characters increased with age. In Experiment 3, characters were given closed containers that might or might not contain an item they wanted. Both 3-and 5-year-olds grasped that the characters' emotional reaction would depend on both their (unconfirmed) beliefs and desires about its content.The experiments show that preschool children deploy a theory-like conception of mind in predicting emotional reactions. They understand that the emotional impact of a situation depends not on its objective features but on the beliefs and desires that are brought to it.
Fischer's work represents a particularly clear example of a theoretical enterprise in which detailed analysis of particular skills has been combined with a more general analysis of structural levels / show how individual pathways in development can be viewed within the context of his system
considers the skill of reading / shows how this skill is better thought of as being attained via multiple branching pathways than via a single universal pathway / considers the skill of role enactment / shows that different pathways of progress through a branching network can often be explained as a function of affective and social variables (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Recent research that bridges the divide between cognitive and social development in early childhood illuminates, but also sets challenges, for both fields. The implications of recent studies of children's social interactions for research on cognitive development–in particular, the development of understanding mind and emotion–are considered, then the implications of new cognitive research for understanding social development are discussed. An example of longitudinal research on children's relationships with family and friends between 2 and 7 years is described, highlighting links between individual differences in cognitive and social development.
In his foundational work The Restoration of the Self, noted psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut boldly challenges what he called âthe limits of classical analytic theoryâ and the Freudian orthodoxy. Here Kohut proposes a âpsychology of the selfâ as a theory in its own rightâone that can stand beside the teachings of Freud and Jung. Using clinical data, Kohut explores issues such as the role of narcissism in personality, when a patient can be considered cured, and the oversimplifications and social biases that unduly influenced Freudian thought. This volume puts forth some of Kohutâs most influential ideas on achieving emotional health through a balanced, creative, and joyful sense of self. "Kohut speaks clearly from his identity as a psychoanalyst-healer, showing that he is more of a psychoanalyst than most, and yet calling for major theoretical revisions including a redefinition of the essence of psychoanalysis.ââAmerican Journal of Psychotherapy
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This paper addresses a specific aspect of pathological mental functioning in so-called borderline patients. Analytic work with a borderline man is presented to show that an inhibition of, and defences against, the contemplation of one's own and others' mental states may be a hallmark of the resistance encountered in a number of such patients. It is claimed that the analysis of transference and countertransference is a crucial therapeutic factor in tackling this source of resistance. In doing this, the paper draws upon a topical notion from philosophy of mind and recent ideas from child development studies which help to clarify psychoanalytic ideas concerning the nature of the pathology of internal object relations underlying feelings of emptiness and social alienation in borderline functioning.
The study of the developmental sequelae of maltreated children illustrates that socioemotional factors play important roles in the ontogenesis of communication.
While action is increasingly viewed as ubiquitous throughout psychoanalytic treatment, our understanding of why it occurs is limited by rudimentary views of verbalization and action. Dynamic and genetic interpretations of action, usually given at a time of resistance impasse, give only a partial explanation of the phenomenon. The question is explored of why the behavior may appear in the form of action, as well as its implication for interpretive strategies. A major premise is that the role of the ego has been overlooked, especially modes of thinking associated with earlier developmental levels.
The authors of this paper discuss changes in the child's perception of psychic reality during normal development, highlighting a major shift in the child's understanding of minds ('theory of mind') at the oedipal stage. They illustrate this transition with material from the analysis of a 4-year-old girl. They maintain that the very young child uses two forms of psychic reality, which they have called 'psychic equivalent' and 'pretend' modes, which differ primarily in the assumed relationship between internal and external realities. The integration of the dual modes into a singular reflective mode is normally completed by about the age of 4, with affect leading cognition: the child first understands that people have different feelings, then that they may have different thoughts about the same external reality. The authors describe normal psychological growth and neurotic pathology, in which the integration of these two modes of functioning has been only partly achieved.
The authors argue that our thinking about psychic reality is challenged by research observations of the child during the period of early language development. The toddler, at the beginnings of propositional speech, expresses the capacity for 'two kinds of psychic reality'. A world of imaginative pretence occurs quite early, and supplements the child's everyday experience. The toddler is not confused by these two experiential worlds and, correspondingly, the use of imaginative activity is strongly supported by caregivers. While in some ways there is a rich history of developmental observation and psychoanalytic thinking about such early imaginative activity, its significance is only now being appreciated. Imaginative reality refers to a process in which the child makes use of what is familiar in the remembered past in order to try out a world of new possibilities in the present that, to some extent, are oriented towards the future. Conditional modes of thinking that are affectively meaningful are thereby engaged and practised in play. The authors present vivid observations that illustrate the early imaginative pretence mode of psychic reality. The observations are followed by a developmental discussion integrating recent research with psychoanalytic theory. As would be expected, thinking about early imaginative reality leads to a variety of new questions for research and clinical work.
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