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Are maternal reflective functioning and attachment security associated with preadolescent mentalization?

Anna Maria Rosso1, Paola Viterbori1, Alda M Scopesi1

  • 1Department of Education, Unit of Psychology, University of Genoa Genoa, Italy.

Frontiers in Psychology
|August 25, 2015
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mothers' ability to understand mental states (reflective functioning) positively impacts children's mentalization skills. This is especially true when mothers can process negative or mixed emotions, regardless of attachment security.

Keywords:
adolescenceattachmentmental-state talkmentalizationreflective functioning

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry
  • Attachment Theory

Background:

  • Maternal reflective functioning (RF) is crucial for child development.
  • Attachment security influences early socio-emotional growth.
  • Understanding the interplay between maternal RF, attachment, and child mentalization is key.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how maternal reflective functioning (RF) and attachment security affect children's mentalization.
  • To explore specific RF markers, including processing negative and mixed emotions.
  • To analyze the relationship between maternal RF and child mentalization in mother-preadolescent dyads.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) for 41 mothers.
  • Assessed maternal RF using the Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS).
  • Measured preadolescent mentalization via semi-structured and autobiographical interviews focusing on mental-state talk.

Main Results:

  • Children's mentalization positively correlated with maternal RF.
  • Maternal ability to mentalize negative or mixed-ambivalent states showed a strong link to child mentalization.
  • No significant differences in child mentalization were found based on maternal attachment security (secure vs. insecure).

Conclusions:

  • Maternal reflective functioning is a significant predictor of children's mentalization abilities.
  • The capacity to process complex emotional states is particularly important for child mental development.
  • Attachment security, in this study, did not emerge as a differentiating factor for children's mentalization.