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Mentalization in children and mothers in the context of trauma: An initial study of the validity of the Child Reflective Functioning Scale
Author(s) -
Ensink Karin,
Normandin Lina,
Target Mary,
Fonagy Peter,
Sabourin Stéphane,
Berthelot Nicolas
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1111/bjdp.12074
Subject(s) - psychology , child sexual abuse , mentalization , discriminant validity , sexual abuse , crfs , developmental psychology , context (archaeology) , child abuse , intraclass correlation , physical abuse , poison control , injury prevention , psychometrics , medicine , conditional random field , natural language processing , computer science , internal consistency , biology , paleontology , environmental health
This study examined the validity of the C hild R eflective F unctioning S cale ( CRFS : E nsink, T arget, & O andason, 2013, Child reflective functioning scale scoring manual: for application to the Child Attachment Interview . L ondon, UK : A nna F reud C entre – U niversity C ollege L ondon), a measure designed to assess reflective functioning ( RF ) or mentalization during middle childhood. Participants were 94 mother–child dyads divided into two subgroups; 46 dyads where children had histories of intrafamilial ( n = 22 dyads) or extrafamilial ( n = 24 dyads) sexual abuse, and a community control group composed of 48 mother–child dyads. RF of children and their mothers was assessed using videotaped and transcribed data gathered using the Child Attachment Interview and the Parent Development Interview ( PDI : S lade, A ber, B resi, B erger, & K aplan, 2004, The parent development interview‐Revised . N ew Y ork, NY : T he C ity U niversity of N ew Y ork). The findings indicate that the CRFS proved reliable, with excellent intraclass correlation coefficients for general RF , as well as RF regarding self and others. Significant differences in RF were found between sexually abused children and the control group, and also between children who had experienced intrafamilial and extrafamilial sexual abuse. This provides support for the discriminant validity of the CRFS . Furthermore, maternal RF was associated with child RF . Both abuse and maternal RF made significant contributions to predicting children's RF regarding themselves, but child sexual abuse was the only variable that made a significant contribution to explaining variance in children's RF regarding others.