What is maternal reflective functioning?
One factor recently shown to be necessary for sensitive parenting is maternal reflective functioning (RF). Maternal RF refers to the capacity to understand the child’s internal experience (thoughts, feelings, and intentions) ( Slade, 2005 ).
What is the definition of reflective functioning?
Reflective functioning refers to the essential human capacity to understand behavior in light of underlying mental states and intentions.
What is the meaning of Mentalizing?
In psychology, mentalization is the ability to understand the mental state – of oneself or others – that underlies overt behaviour. Mentalization ability, or mentalizing, is weakened by intense emotion.
Why is reflective functioning important?
This process, whereby internal experience, feelings and intentions are mentalized leads to the development of structures crucial to self and affect regulation. Reflective functioning is the operationalized referent to the capacity to mentalize that can be scored in narrative.
Why is Mindmind important?
Mind-minded parenting — tuning in, and making insightful comments about mental states — strengthens social bonds and helps children understand the thoughts and feelings of other people. In addition, there is reason to think that mind-minded parenting may help children develop better self-control.
How is reflective functioning measured?
The gold standard measure of RF is the interview-based Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS) applied to the Parent Development Interview (PDI) or Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), which while well validated, is time-and labor-intensive to administer.
What is an example of mentalizing?
For example, when a baby is in distress, the caregiver may display an expression of concern or worry on their own face. When the child sees this expression of concern, they can then begin understanding their own feelings and develop the ability to mentalize.
Is mentalizing theory of mind?
Theory of mind (ToM) or mentalizing is a fundamental component of human cognition and is essential for social functioning. It is defined as the ability to ascribe mental states, such as desires, beliefs, intentions, and emotions, to oneself and others and to explain and predict behaviour based on these mental states.
What is reflective functioning questionnaire?
The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ) is an 8-item self-report measure of reflective functioning that is presumed to capture individual differences in hypo- and hypermentalizing. We discuss key challenges in assessing mentalizing via self-report.
What is maternal mind-mindedness?
Maternal mind-mindedness, defined as the propensity to view one’s child as an agent with independent thoughts and feelings, mitigates the impact of low maternal education on conduct problems in young children (Meins et al. 2013), but has been little studied beyond the preschool years.