A borderline focused Reflective Functioning measure - Interrater reliability of the Mentalization Breakdown...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• Mentalizing difficulties are central to borderline personality disorder (BPD) psychopathology, impacting distress and relationships.
• Assessing mentalizing ability during BPD treatment is challenging due to a lack of suitable methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interrater reliability of the Mentalization Breakdown Interview - Reflective Functioning Scale (MBI-RF).
• To evaluate the MBI as a tool for assessing mentalizing difficulties in BPD.

Main Methods:

• Videotaped Mentalization Breakdown Interviews (MBIs) from 32 BPD patients in a specialized outpatient clinic were used.
• Interviews were conducted by mentalization-based treatment (MBT) therapists.
• Three certified raters scored the MBI-RF to assess interrater reliability.

Main Results:

• The MBI-RF demonstrated good interrater reliability.
• This indicates consistent scoring across different raters.

Conclusions:

• The Mentalization Breakdown Interview (MBI) is a promising method for assessing reflective functioning in BPD.
• The MBI-RF's good reliability supports its use in clinical and research settings for BPD treatment.