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Mentalizzazione genitoriale, funzionamento psicologico ed esiti psicopatologici nel bambino nell’ambito della middle childhood.
No full textIntroduction: Building upon the London Parent-Child Project (Fonagy et al., 1991), the study of mentalization processes expanded broadly over the past twenty years. Nevertheless, studies have mainly focused on early childhood and preschool age therefore exploring the effects of those processes on the child's psychological and psychopathological outcomes. However, mentalizing abilities may also play a leading role in subsequent periods such as middle childhood that has been understudied in attachment-based studies despite the significant changes at this stage affecting the child and his family. Finally, most of the studies have dealt exclusively with the mother-child relationship leaving out the possible role played by father’s mentalizing.
For this reason, the main purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to explore child’s psychological functioning and both maternal and paternal mentalizing during middle childhood by means of the following operationalizations of parental mentalization: Parental Insightfulness (Oppenheim & Koren-Karie, 2002) and Parental Reflective Functioning (PRF; Slade, 2005).
More particularly, the specific aims of this dissertation were organized into the three chapters as follows: (I) the presentation of the first data concerning the Insightfulness Assessment (IA; Oppenheim & Koren-Karie, 2002) in an Italian community sample; (II) the exploration of the role of both maternal and paternal mentalizing on child’s psychological outcomes (i.e., internalizing and externalizing symptoms and social-emotional competencies) and (III) on levels of parenting stress and co-parenting alliance.
Method: A non-experimental cross-sectional design involving a convenience sample consisting of 87 parents and their 50 children 8-12 years of age was used. The sample completed the Insightfulness Assessment Procedure to assess Parental Insightfulness while Parental Reflective Functioning was assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire. Children’s mentalizing abilities were assessed applying to the Child Attachment Interview the Child and Adolescent Reflective Functioning Scale. And finally, parent- and self-report questionnaires were used to evaluate child’s psychological outcomes, and parenting stress and co-parenting alliance levels.
Results: The main results show the important role played by parental mentalization on both child’s psychological outcomes and parental variables. The data highlight the relation between parental mentalization and both child’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms and social-emotional competencies. A further element to be considered concerns the intergenerational transmission which indicates Parental Insightfulness as an indirect predictor of child's psychological outcomes through the mediational role of child's mentalizing abilities. Finally, these findings emphasize the connection between parental mentalization and parenting stress. More uncertain results were instead found regarding co-parenting alliance.
Discussion: Overall, the results are discussed within the attachment framework underlining the importance of considering mentalizing processes and showing the need for further studies that investigate their implications especially in relation to: (1) a multi-method approach for investigating the construct; (2) a wider involvement of the father figure and (3) the relevance that mentalizing processes have within the parent-child interactions also considering evidence-based mentalization-oriented interventions to strengthen positive dynamics within the family system
Paternal mind matters: exploring fathers’ mentalization and its implications for family system and child’s psychological outcomes
No full textBuilding emotional security in middle childhood through parental mentalization
No full textIntroduction: Mentalization, operationalized as Reflective Function (RF; Fonagy et al., 1991),
involves the capacity to consider self and others in terms of mental states and also the ability to
understand that self and other behaviors are underpinned by psychological motivations, thought,
feelings and desires. Despite the considerable number of studies that underline the importance of
parental mentalization as a protective factor for child’s development (Slade et al., 2005), data on
the relationship between parental RF and emotional security in middle childhood are still lacking.
Aim: this study aims to investigate the role of parental mentalization in influencing their children’s
emotional security in middle childhood.
Method: the study involved 75 participants (25 Italian family triads): 25 mothers, 25 fathers, 25
children aged 9-14 (M = 11.29, SD = 2.42). All parents completed the Adult Attachment Interview
(George et al., 1985), coded using the Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS; Fonagy et al., 1998),
while children completed the Child Attachment Interview (CAI; Shmueli-Goetz et al., 2008).
Results: data showed significant positive association between maternal RF and security CAI
subscales, as Emotional Openness (r .492, p=.015) and Resolution of Conflicts (r .479, p=.015),
and negative association between maternal RF and Involving Anger with both mother (r -.397,
p=.050) and father (r -.485, p=.016). Regression analysis showed that maternal RF represents a
significant predictor (p < .05) of Emotional Openness (β =.43) and Resolution of Conflicts (β =.42).
None associations between paternal RF and CAI subscales were found.
Conclusion: results show that maternal RF plays a crucial role in middle childhood for the
development of children’s emotional security, considered as the ability to contemplate a complex
range of feelings within the relational life episodes. On the other hand, paternal RF will probably
display a stronger role during permanent adolescence
"On the tracks of externalizing symptomatology: the role of attachment coherence and self-regulation " Proceedings XXI National Congress Italian Psychological Association, Clinical and Dynamic Section, Milan-27-29 September 2019, SYMPOSIUM SESSION
No full textAlthough the role of mentalization has been extensively explored among clinical and normative adult samples, a lack of studies in middle childhood still exists (Bosmans & Kerns, 2015; Ensink et al., 2015). Following these considerations, the present study aims to explore the role of mentalization (operationalized as Reflective Functioning) as a mediator in the link between attachment coherence and psychological maladjustment, here considered as externalizing symptomatology. Child Attachment Interview (CAI; ShmueliGoetz, Target, Fonagy & Datta, 2008; Cavanna, Bizzi, San Martini & Castellano, 2018) was administered to 95 community children (M = 10.4 years, SD = 1.43 years) and then coded with the Child and Adolescent Reflective Functioning Scale (CRFS; Ensink, Target, Duval & Oandasan, 2015; measured as Self- and Other-focused mentalization). Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18 (Achenbach, 2001) was also administered to children’s parents. Results showed that Self-focused mentalization, but not Other-focused mentalization, partially mediates the link between attachment coherence and externalizing symptomatology. Despite the preliminary nature of this study, our findings suggest the importance of considering the dimension of Self-focused mentalization (intended as the capability to recognize and to converse with own mental states) during middle-childhood as a dimension that could promote psychological adjustment. These considerations lead us to consider the need for specific interventions able to capture the specificity of the middle childhood period in which the attachment system changes from seeking proximity to the attachment figure to discovering external social relationships
Mentalization and Emotion Regulation in Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Somatic Symptom Disorders during the middle childhood.
No full textAssessing mental representatios with respect to parents and post-traumatic symptomatology among children with disruptive behavior disorders.
No full textIntroduction: In line with a consistent literature, children with externalizing disorders have experienced some traumatic events, such as experiences of rejection, abuse, violence assisted.Recent studies are examining the role of attachment for a better evaluation of this disorder. Aims of the study: The aims of this study are: 1) to evaluate the post-traumatic symptomatology in a group of children diagnosed withDisruptive Behavior Disorders; 2) to evaluate theirs attachment models; 3) to test the association between post-traumatic symptomatology and attachment organization. Material and methods: Forty consecutive Italian patients aged from 8 to 15 (M=10.7; SD=2.01) were administered the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC-A), a self-report evaluating post-traumatic symptomatology, and the Child Attachment Interview (CAI), a semi-structured interview assessing the attachment representations. Moreover socio-demographic data were collected. Results: Regarding post-traumatic symptomatology, patients with Disruptive Behavior Disorders showed high level of Anger and low level of Dissociation. Findings on the distribution of attachment models showed a significant presence of insecure attachment with respect to both parents and Disorganized attachment was found in more than half of the patients. Conclusions: This study suggests that attachment organization and post-traumatic symptomatology may be fundamental elements to be assessed with Disruptive Behavior Disordersin childhood and to understand the mental state and psychological features of children affected by this disorders. The clinical implications for future research directions and the methodological limitations are discusse
Emerging adults facing the COVID-19 pandemic: emotion dysregulation, mentalizing, and psychological symptoms
No full textSettled in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present short-term longitudinal study aims to investigate the relation between emotion dysregulation, mentalizing (both certainty and uncertainty about mental states), and psychological symptoms in a sample of 83 emerging adults (M(age) = 22.18 years, SD = 4.36) over a continuous period started with COVID-19 spreads. Results display significant positive associations between psychological symptoms and both emotion dysregulation and uncertainty about mental states, while an inverse association with certainty about mental states was found. A moderation model was also performed, showing a significant negative association between emotion dysregulation and psychological symptoms at low levels of uncertainty about mental states. Conversely, a marginally significant positive association occurs at high levels of uncertainty about mental states. In other words, the presence of individual impairments in perceiving one’s own/others mind may increase the negative consequences of emotion dysregulation on reported psychological symptoms. To sum up, our findings highlight the importance of considering mentalizing as a possible key factor for the promotion of emerging adults’ mental health also in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
Investigating mental functioning through the Child Attachment Interview: a challenge in adolescence
No full textIntroduction: Recent literature focused on emotion regulation and mentalization as explaining mechanisms between insecure attachment and psychopathological trajectories in developmental age, but there is still a lack of studies using attachment interviews as informative measures of mental functioning. In the PDM-2 theoretical framework, the Child Attachment Interview (CAI) could be a valid measure to assess the Mental Functioning Axis (MA-Axis), coded through the Psychodiagnostic Chart-2 Adolescent-version (PDC-2), but quantitative studies are needed as well. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of mental functioning domains - i.e. emotional regulation and mentalization - in the relationship between insecure attachment, operazionalized as Attachment Coherence, and psychological maladjustment, operazionalized as Internalizing and Externalizing symptomatology.
Method: Forty-eighth Italian teenagers (Mage=13.1 y.o, SD=.99; 56% female), 20 of which as nonclinical group and 28 with internalizing and externalizing symptomatology (clinical group), were administered the CAI, later coded for Attachment Coherence and MA-Axis. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist 6-18.
Results: Exploratory analyses showed significative correlations between attachment security subscales, all mental functioning domains, and symptomatology. Mediation models tested the role of emotional regulation and mentalization, and the Capacity for Impulse Control and Regulation mediated the relationship between Attachment Coherence and psychological maladjustment, even controlling for group membership.
Discussion: Findings suggest that CAI and PDC-2 are useful measures to explore adolescent mental states, highlighting the relationship between attachment insecurity and psychological maladjustment through the interaction with emotional-behavioral regulation. Implications on clinical vs. nonclinical functioning in adolescence will be provided
Family functioning of adolescents with restrictive eating disorders with or without nonsuicidal self‐injury
No full textFamily influence is a crucial factor in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders. Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and restrictive eating disorders (REDs) co-occur in a significant percentage of subjects but family functioning of these families remains underexplored. This study examines the family functioning perceptions of 80 families with adolescents experiencing RED, comparing those with and without NSSI, alongside a control group, utilising the FACES-IV assessment. The study also aims to compare the triadic (adolescent-mother-father) perception of family functioning in the three groups. The results reveal distinct family dynamics in adolescents with both RED and NSSI, marked by problematic functioning perceptions from all family members and low parental agreement. A further understanding of the family functioning of adolescents with RED with NSSI can help clinicians in defining the treatment setting
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