Construct Validity of the Mentalization Scale (MentS) Within a Mixed Psychiatric Sample

Richter, Felix; Steinmair, Dagmar; Löffler‐Stastka, Henriette

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.608214

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Acceptable levels of internal consistency were reported, as well as a meaningful factor structure and correlations with expected factors such as gender, level of education, attachment, personality traits, emotional intelligence and empathy. Other studies have also found similar factor structure and levels of internal consistency (Đorđević and Đorđević, 2019;Benoit, 2020;Stanojević et al, 2020;Ahmadian and Ghamarani, 2021;Bhola and Mehrotra, 2021;Jańczak, 2021;Richter et al, 2021). Investigations of construct validity have found correlations with attachment style (Đorđević and Đorđević, 2019;Benoit, 2020;Stanojević et al, 2020;Jańczak, 2021), empathy (Ahmadian and Ghamarani, 2021;Jańczak, 2021), borderline features, emotional intelligence and personality traits (Jańczak, 2021) in the way that is according to previous knowledge about mentalization.…”

Section: Measuring Mentalizationmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Three subscales can be extracted: Self-Related Mentalization (8 items) , Other-Related Mentalization (10 items), and Motivation to Mentalize (10 items). Previous studies have reported consistent factor structure and good internal consistency ranging from 0.7 to 0.86 ( Dimitrijević et al, 2018 ; Đorđević and Đorđević, 2019 ; Benoit, 2020 ; Stanojević et al, 2020 ; Bhola and Mehrotra, 2021 ; Jańczak, 2021 ; Richter et al, 2021 ). MentS was translated to Norwegian for the present study by two psychologists fluent in English.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Investigations of construct validity have found correlations with attachment style ( Đorđević and Đorđević, 2019 ; Benoit, 2020 ; Stanojević et al, 2020 ; Jańczak, 2021 ), empathy ( Ahmadian and Ghamarani, 2021 ; Jańczak, 2021 ), borderline features, emotional intelligence and personality traits ( Jańczak, 2021 ) in the way that is according to previous knowledge about mentalization. Also, Richter et al (2021) found the MentS to have a large positive correlation with the Reflective Function Scale (0.652, p = 0.000). Thus, self-report may be a feasible and adequate option in order to study mentalization skills in larger samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

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Does clinical training improve mentalization skills in future therapists? A comparison of first and last year students of clinical psychology and of engineering

et al. 2023

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ObjectiveMentalization has been suggested as a therapist skill that might be important for therapeutic success. The aim of this study was to explore whether the mentalization capacity of students of clinical psychology differs from other students, and whether last-year students differ from first-year students.MethodA total of 297 students participated in this study, recruited from first and last years of psychology and engineering study programs. All participants filled out the MentS, a self-report measure of mentalization capacity.ResultsNo significant differences were found in self-reported mentalization capacity between first and last year students of clinical psychology. The results did however show that first year students of psychology had significantly higher self-reported mentalization skills compared to students of engineering, and higher MentS-scores were associated with gender (female) and higher age.ConclusionThe finding that students of clinical psychology rate themselves as having a higher capacity to mentalize compared to students of engineering might suggest that individuals with a higher capacity to mentalize are more likely to engage in clinical psychology and become therapists. However, the lack of significant difference in self-reported mentalization capacity in last year students of clinical psychology compared to first year students might indicate that the Norwegian education in clinical psychology does not succeed in enhancing mentalization in future therapists. Clinical psychology study programs might benefit from targeted mentalization training.

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Section: Measuring Mentalizationmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

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Does clinical training improve mentalization skills in future therapists? A comparison of first and last year students of clinical psychology and of engineering

et al. 2023

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“…Impairment in other-mentalizing can be detected by the ToM tasks with observable reality, which is within the scope of this systematic review. In contrast, the self-mentalizing employed in RF is more responsive to the narrative-based ToM assessments [ 78 , 79 ]. However, sharing the same mentalizing network, other- and self-mentalizing are interactive, providing reciprocal references for each other and contributing to RF.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of the Current Measures of Theory of Mind in Adults with Schizophrenia

Yeh

Lin

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Adults with schizophrenia usually have impairments in theory of mind (ToM), which subsequently cause them problems in social interaction. Therefore, it is important for healthcare providers to assess their ToM using adequate measures. This systematic review evaluated current ToM measures (or ToM tasks) for adults with schizophrenia and summarized their specific characteristics, including the concept and construct, administration, and psychometric properties. From a review of 117 articles, 13 types of ToM tasks were identified, and the findings from these articles were qualitatively synthesized. The results showed that ToM tasks are diverse in their presentation modalities, answer modes, strategies of controlling cognitive confounders, and scoring. Most tasks employ cognitive and affective dimensions and target a specific, single ToM concept. The present systematic review found that psychometric evidence supporting the ToM tasks, such as internal consistency, test–retest reliability, unidimensionality, and convergent, criterion, and ecological validities, is insufficient. Based on the results, we propose several principles for selecting appropriate ToM tasks in practice, e.g., selecting a task with multiple ToM concepts, or an exclusive ToM construct containing the cognitive and affective dimensions. Moreover, future studies are needed to provide more psychometric evidence on each type of ToM task applied in people with schizophrenia.

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“…A sample item is “ Often I cannot explain , even to myself , why I did something ”. The MentS is a relatively new inventory whose consistency, reliability, and validity has been reported to be adequate to good [ 65 , 66 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An apprenticeship model in the training of psychotherapy students. Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial and qualitative investigation

et al. 2022

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Background One approach towards advancing the quality of mental health care is to improve psychotherapists’ skills through education and training. Recently, psychotherapy training has benefitted from adapting training methods from other professions (e.g., deliberate practice). The apprenticeship model has a long history in skill trades and medicine, but has yet to be adopted in training mental health professionals. This study aims to investigate the impact of apprenticeship training on clinical psychology students’ skills. Methods In a pragmatic mixed-methods trial, 120 first year students in a Master’s degree clinical psychology program will be randomized to either training-as-usual or training-as-usual plus psychotherapy apprenticeship. In the intervention group, students will participate, over a period of 10 weeks, in weekly treatment sessions together with licensed therapists at outpatient mental health and substance use treatment clinics. Outcomes are assessed post-intervention and at two-year follow-up. The main outcome measure is the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS) performance test. Additional self-report measures tap self-efficacy, self-compassion, worry, rumination, and stress. Weekly reflection log entries written by the students will be qualitatively analyzed in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the learning process. Students’ and therapists’ experiences with the intervention will be explored in focus group interviews. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first controlled study to investigate the impact of apprenticeship as an isolated training component in the education of clinical psychologists. The study is designed so as to yield a comprehensive understanding of an approach which could prove to be a valuable supplement to the existing educational methods in this field and ultimately, contribute to improve the quality of mental health care.

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Construct Validity of the Mentalization Scale (MentS) Within a Mixed Psychiatric Sample

Cited by 10 publications

References 28 publications

Does clinical training improve mentalization skills in future therapists? A comparison of first and last year students of clinical psychology and of engineering

Does clinical training improve mentalization skills in future therapists? A comparison of first and last year students of clinical psychology and of engineering

A Systematic Review of the Current Measures of Theory of Mind in Adults with Schizophrenia

An apprenticeship model in the training of psychotherapy students. Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial and qualitative investigation

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