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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

One-channel Cell-attached Patch-clamp Recording
Published on: June 9, 2014
Changes in Attachment Representation in Psychotherapy: Is Reflective Functioning the Crucial Factor?
Anna Tmej1, Melitta Fischer-Kern1, Stephan Doering1
1Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Medical University of Vienna Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Wien Austria Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy,Medical University of Vienna.
Objectives:
The study analyzed the interdependence of change in attachment representation and reflective functioning (RF) in psychotherapy.
Methods:
RF data from 63 female borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients were analyzed with respect to change of attachment representation (from insecure to secure and from unresolved to resolved) fromthree angles: (1) RF as a moderator variable, (2) RF as an outcome variable, and (3) RF changes over one year of treatment.
Results:
Patients who changed to a resolved attachment classification showed higher RF before treatment and at follow-up than patients who remained unresolved (RF = 3.0 vs. RF = 2.14, p = 0.039; and RF = 3.4 vs. RF = 2.36, p = 0.002). Similar results were found for changes from insecure to secure.
Conclusion:
A higher RF level before psychotherapy proved to be a moderator for change in attachment representation. Patients with unresolved attachment and low-level RF at the outset had the least chance for representational change during the first year of psychotherapy.
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