Title Mentalization in early adolescence and its associations with attachment, abuse and emotional and behavioral difficulties /
Translation of Title Mentalizacija ankstyvoje paauglystėje ir jos sąsajos su prieraišumu, smurto patyrimu ir emociniais bei elgesio sunkumais.
Authors Gervinskaitė-Paulaitienė, Lina
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Pages 75
Keywords [eng] mentalization ; conduct and emotional difficulties ; abuse ; attachment ; early adolescence
Abstract [eng] Mentalizing is a multidimensional capacity to understand behavior of others and ourselves in terms of mental states, such as feelings, thoughts, desires, and beliefs (Luyten & Fonagy, 2015). Although is it suggested to be important in understanding both normal and disrupted development, the developmental factors of mentalization and its importance to emotional and behavioral difficulties in early adolescence are still understudied. The aim of the dissertation was to analyze the characteristics of mentalization in early adolescence and to assess its links with attachment in the middle childhood, abuse and emotional and behavioral difficulties. The sample consisted of 705 young adolescents. The results of the study revealed that aspects of mentalization (reflective functioning, recognition of mental states, explanation of behavioral causes and emotional awareness) were interrelated. Results indicated that gender and childhood abuse are important factors in describing the characteristics of mentalization. The study showed that attachment security in middle childhood was associated with emotional awareness in early adolescence. Study results consistently confirmed the link between poor mentalization and behavioral difficulties, and relationships between emotional difficulties and mentalization were diverse. The data also confirms poor reflective function to be a risk mechanism that can explain the links between abuse and emotional and behavioral difficulties in early adolescence.
Dissertation Institution Vilniaus universitetas.
Type Summaries of doctoral thesis
Language English
Publication date 2018