Parents mentalization and child attachment in middle childhood: An Italian contribution

Mentalization – operationalized as reflective function; RF - is defined as the ability to reflect upon the mind and behavior of self and others in the context of attachment relationship. A huge number of studies showed how parental mentalization abilities represent a protective factor for child’s cognitive, emotional and social development (Slade et al., 2005). Nevertheless, few of them focused on the differences displayed by maternal and paternal RF on their middle childhood children attachment. Aim: this study aims to investigate the role of both maternal e paternal RF in influencing their children attachment in middle childhood. Method: the study involved 19 Italian family triads (N=57) with children aged 9-13 years (M=11.30, sd=2.52). The Adult Attachment Interview (George at al., 1985) was administered to all parents and coded using the Reflective Function Scale (RFS; Fonagy et al., 1998). Children completed the Child Attachment Interview (CAI; Shmueli-Goetz et al., 2008), a semi-structured interview aimed to assess the attachment patterns related to both parents. Results: Data showed positive associations between maternal RF and security CAI subscales (r between .474 and .521, p=.05), while maternal RF seemed to negative correlate with child Anger related to father (r=-.530, p=.024). None associations between paternal RF and CAI subscales were found.ù Conclusion: Results indicate that maternal RF is significantly associated with children security subscales. Following this we might consider the possibility that mothers’ RF could mediate the relation between paternal RF and children attachment and that fathers’ RF will perform a stronger role during adolescence.