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Updated: Sep 28, 2025

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Advancement in the child attachment interview and the child and adolescent reflective functioning scale using a PDM-2
Fabiola Bizzi1, Francesca Locati2, Laura Parolin3
1Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa. Fabiola.Bizzi@unige.it.
The Child Attachment Interview (CAI) and Child and Adolescent Reflective Functioning Scale (CRFS) effectively assess child mentalization and personality. Combined with the Psychodiagnostic Chart-Second Edition (PDC-2), they enhance understanding of developmental psychopathology.
Area of Science:
- Child and adolescent psychology
- Developmental psychopathology
- Psychodynamic assessment
Background:
- The Child Attachment Interview (CAI) is a key tool for assessing attachment in children and adolescents.
- Child mentalization, assessed via the Child and Adolescent Reflective Functioning Scale (CRFS) on CAI narratives, predicts attachment security.
- The Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual-Second Edition (PDM-2) incorporates CAI and CRFS for evaluating mental functioning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the utility of CAI and CRFS in understanding overall mental functioning and personality within the PDM-2 framework.
- To examine the combined informative power of CAI, CRFS, and the Psychodiagnostic Chart-Second Edition (PDC-2) for child psychopathology.
- To illustrate the application of these measures in clinical case examples.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Child Attachment Interview (CAI) and Child and Adolescent Reflective Functioning Scale (CRFS).
- Applied the Psychodiagnostic Chart-Second Edition (PDC-2) for children and adolescents to CAI transcripts.
- Integrated quantitative scoring data with qualitative analysis of CAI narratives from two clinical cases (Oppositional-Provocative Disorder and Somatic Symptoms Disorder).
Main Results:
- CAI and CRFS are valuable attachment-focused measures for exploring children's mental states.
- The combined use of CAI, CRFS, and PDC-2 offers significant insights into developmental psychopathology.
- The approach proved effective in understanding the mental functioning and personality of children with externalizing and internalizing disorders.
Conclusions:
- CAI and CRFS, within a PDM-2 framework, provide essential contributions to understanding child mental functioning and personality.
- This integrated assessment approach enhances the clinical evaluation of developmental psychopathology.
- The findings support the use of this innovative method for clinical assessment, treatment planning, and interventions in child psychiatry.
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