Mentalizing Problems in Childhood Disorders

Sharp, Carla

doi:10.1002/9780470712986.ch4

Cited by 37 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 118 publications

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“…As expected, empathy was found to correlate with the RFQY. While empathy is not a form of mentalizing, it relates to mentalizing in that the ability to empathize relies on an individual's capacity to respond emotionally to another's mental state, which therefore involves mentalization (Sharp, 2006). Empathy can be therefore seen as the emotional other-oriented end of mentalizing (Choi-Kain & Gunderson, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The measurement of reflective function in adolescents with and without borderline traits

Sharp

Ensink

et al. 2013

Journal of Adolescence

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119

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Reflective function refers to the capacity to reflect on the mind of self and others in the context of the attachment relationship. Reflective function (and its conceptual neighbor, mentalizing) has been shown to be an important correlate of a variety of disorders, including borderline personality disorder (BPD). The current study examined the construct validity of the Reflective Function Questionnaire for Youths (RFQY) in an inpatient sample of adolescents. Adequate internal consistency was established for the RFQY. Significant positive associations with an interview-based measure of reflective function and an experimental-based assessment of mentalization were found for the RFQY. Strong negative relations with BPD features were found and adolescent patients who scored above clinical cut-off for BPD symptoms demonstrated significantly poorer reflective function compared to patients without the disorder. These findings provide preliminary support for the notion that reflective function can be validly and reliably assessed in adolescent populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The measurement of reflective function in adolescents with and without borderline traits

Sharp

Ensink

et al. 2013

Journal of Adolescence

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119

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“…Taken together, the above research suggests that although the mother may be mentalizing her child, she is doing so incorrectly. Thus, a 'misinterpretation' or 'misreading' of the child's mind takes place, akin to what Meins et al (2001Meins et al ( , 2002 refer to as 'inappropriate MMM' or what Sharp (2006) refers to as 'distorted mentalizing'. It furthermore confirms the link between the misreading of children's intentions and attributions, and the child's socio-cognitive reasoning and psychosocial adjustment.…”

Section: Parents' Cognitions About Their Children's Intentions and Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most early work on mentalizing was concerned with investigating the age at which normal children pass theory of mind tasks and the theory of mind deficits associated with autism (Sharp, 2006). For attachment theorists, however, the concept of mentalizing would serve a twofold purpose.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Parent's Capacity to Treat the Child as a Psychological Agent: Constructs, Measures and Implications for Developmental Psychopathology

2008

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Recent studies of the relationship between parenting and child development have included a focus on the parent's capacity to treat the child as a psychological agent. Several constructs have been developed to refer to this capacity, for example maternal mind-mindedness, reflective functioning, and parental mentalizing. In this review article, we compare and contrast different constructs from diverse theoretical backgrounds that have been developed to operationalize parental mentalizing. We examine the empirical evidence to date in support of each of the constructs and review the relevant measures associated with each construct. Next, we discuss the possibility that these apparently diverse constructs may tap into the same underlying neurobiological socio-cognitive system. We conclude by proposing a testable model for describing the links between parental mentalization, the development of mentalizing in children, and child psychopathology.

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“…Research suggests that theory of mind is an important contributor to the development of antisocial behavior as it is a prerequisite to empathic responding, which facilitates the inhibition of antisocial behavior (Happé and Frith, 1996; Sharp, 2006, 2008). In sum, lack of self-reflection, introspection, internal mentation, theory of mind, and episodic memory are attributes that may lead to lack of remorse or guilt, callousness, and antisocial behavior - traits highly characteristic of CD/SUD youth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Default mode network activity in male adolescents with conduct and substance use disorder

Dalwani

Tregellas

Andrews‐Hanna

et al. 2014

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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Background Adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) and substance use disorders (SUD) experience difficulty evaluating and regulating their behavior in anticipation of future consequences. Given the role of the brain's default mode network (DMN) in self-reflection and future thought, this study investigates whether DMN is altered in adolescents with CD and SUD, relative to controls. Methods Twenty adolescent males with CD and SUD and 20 male controls of similar ages underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging as they completed a risk-taking decision task. We used independent component analysis as a data-driven approach to identify the DMN spatial component in individual subjects. DMN activity was then compared between groups. Results Compared to controls, patients showed reduced activity in superior, medial and middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann area (BA) 10), retrosplenial cortex (BA 30) and lingual gyrus (BA 18), and bilateral middle temporal gryus (BA 21/22) - DMN regions thought to support self-referential evaluation, memory, foresight, and perspective taking. Furthermore, this pattern of reduced activity in patients remained robust after adjusting for the effects of depression and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Conversely, when not adjusting for effects of depression and ADHD, patients demonstrated greater DMN activity than controls solely in the cuneus (BA 19). Conclusions Collectively, these results suggest that comorbid CD and SUD in adolescents is characterized by atypical activity in brain regions thought to play an important role in introspective processing. These functional imbalances in brain networks may provide further insight into the neural underpinnings of conduct and substance use disorders.

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Mentalizing Problems in Childhood Disorders

Cited by 37 publications

References 118 publications

The measurement of reflective function in adolescents with and without borderline traits

The measurement of reflective function in adolescents with and without borderline traits

The Parent's Capacity to Treat the Child as a Psychological Agent: Constructs, Measures and Implications for Developmental Psychopathology

Default mode network activity in male adolescents with conduct and substance use disorder

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