Mentalization refers to the capacity to understand and interpret one’s own and others mental states. There is good evidence for individualised treatments aimed at increasing this capacity with children and adolescents. However, there has been no focused synthesis of the literature concerning specifically group delivered mentalization-based parenting interventions. The current study aimed to systematically review the literature in relation to group delivered mentalization-based parenting interventions. Three databases were searched to identify N=515 studies that were screened and reported according to PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria were met by N=10 studies. Interventions varied in terms of content, but often included psychoeducation, experiential group exercises and homework tasks. The length and setting of interventions did not appear to influence outcomes. Significant improvements in parental reflective functioning were found in eight of the ten studies. There was mixed evidence for the efficacy in terms of other parental and child outcomes. This may be due to the lack of high quality studies and the absence of longer-term follow-ups. There is a need for future research to conduct high quality studies with greater diversity in participating parents and long-term follow-up.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.