There are still important gaps in our knowledge regarding the intergenerational transmission of attachment from mother to child, especially in mothers with childhood histories of abuse and neglect (CA&N). This study examined the contributions of reflective function concerning general attachment relationships, and specifically concerning trauma, as well as those of maternal attachment states of mind to the prediction of infant attachment disorganization in a sample of mothers with CA&N and their infants, using a 20-month follow-up design. Attachment and reflective functioning were assessed during pregnancy with the Adult Attachment Interview. Infant attachment was evaluated with the Strange Situation Procedure. The majority (83%) of infants of abused and neglected mothers were classified as insecure, and a significant proportion (44%) manifested attachment disorganization. There was a strong concordance between mother and child attachment, indicative of intergenerational transmission of attachment in parents with CA&N and their infants. Both unresolved trauma and trauma-specific reflective function made significant contributions to explaining variance in infant attachment disorganization. The findings of this study highlight the importance of trauma-specific mentalization in the intergenerational transmission of attachment by mothers with a history of childhood maltreatment, and provide new evidence of the importance of the absence of mentalization regarding trauma for infant attachment.

London), 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 motherchild 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: Slade, Aber, Bresi, Berger, & Kaplan, 2004, The parent development interview-Revised. New York, NY: The City University of New York). 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.How do children understand their relationships with their attachment figures and how do they think about themselves? Despite a burgeoning body of research on the development of children's social cognition and understanding of feelings and reactions of others, we know surprisingly little about the development of children's capacities to consider their close relationships and themselves in mental state terms. The reflective functioning (RF) paradigm developed by Fonagy, Steele, Moran, Steele, and Higgitt (1991) provides a methodology for assessing, in adults, this particular dimension of social cognition orThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

BackgroundSexual abuse is a well-recognised risk factor for child psychopathology. Little is known regarding whether child and maternal mentalization can be considered a potential resource or protective factor in this context, respectively, mediating or moderating the relationship between sexual abuse and psychopathology.ObjectiveThe aims of this study were (1) to explore the relationships between child and maternal mentalizing, measured as reflective functioning (RF), and child depressive symptoms and externalising difficulties; and (2) to examine whether child mentalizing mediates the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and psychopathology.MethodA total of 168 children aged 7–12 years and their mothers participated in the study. The sample included 74 dyads where children had experienced sexual abuse. The Child Attachment Interview was rated by using the Child Reflective Functioning Scale to assess children's mentalization, and the Child Depression Inventory was used to assess depressive symptoms. Mothers completed the Parent Development Interview to assess maternal RF and the Child Behavior Checklist to assess their child's externalising difficulties. A model involving direct and indirect paths from CSA, child and maternal RF to child psychopathology was examined using Mplus software.ResultsChild mentalization partially mediated the relationships between CSA and depressive symptoms, as well as the relationship between CSA and externalising difficulties. Maternal mentalization was an independent predictor of child externalising difficulties, with higher maternal RF associated with less externalising difficulties.DiscussionThe findings indicate that by ages 7–12, child mentalization is an important inner resource associated with lower depression and externalising. In addition, this study provides new evidence of the importance of the parent's mentalizing stance for the development of self-regulation and externalising difficulties in both abused and non-abused children. The clinical implications are discussed.

The aim of this prospective study was to examine temporal pathways from mothers' reflective functioning through parenting to infant attachment measured more than 16 months later. Participants were 88 motherinfant dyads from demographically diverse backgrounds and including a group of mothers with histories of childhood maltreatment. Reflective Functioning was assessed using the RF rating of the Adult Attachment Interview before the birth of the baby. Parenting was assessed when the infants were 6 months old using the Maternal Sensitivity Scale, as well as when they were 16 months using the Disconnected and Extremely Insensitive Parenting Scale. Infant attachment was assessed when the infants were 16 months old using the Strange Situation. As hypothesized, the study findings showed that mothers' mentalization regarding their own early attachment relationships was associated with later parenting and infant attachment. Negative parenting behaviours explained the link between mothers' RF about their own attachment relationships and both infant attachment disorganization and infant attachment insecurity. The findings suggest that mothers' mentalization about their early attachment relationships has important implications in the transition to becoming parents themselves. Mentalization appears to be particularly important in helping mothers screen and inhibit negative parenting behaviours that would otherwise undermine infant attachment security and organization.

The aim of this study was to examine preliminary evidence of the validity of the Trauma Reflective Functioning Scale and to investigate reflective functioning (RF) and attachment in pregnant women with histories of trauma, with a particular focus on the capacity to mentalize regarding trauma and its implications for adaptation to pregnancy and couple functioning. The Adult Attachment Interview was used to assess attachment, unresolved trauma and mentalization (measured as RF) regarding relationships with attachment figures (RF-G) and trauma (RF-T) in 100 pregnant women with histories of abuse and neglect. The majority (63%) of women had insecure attachment states of mind and approximately half were unresolved regarding trauma. Furthermore, the majority of women manifested deficits specific to RF-T. Their RF-T was significantly lower than their RF-G; the findings indicate that women with histories of childhood abuse and neglect do not manifest a generic inhibition of reflectiveness, but a collapse of mentalization specific to trauma. Low RF-T, indicative of difficulty in considering traumatic experiences in mental state terms, was associated with difficulty in investment in the pregnancy and lack of positive feelings about the baby and motherhood. In addition, low RF-T was also associated with difficulties in intimate relationships. Results of a regression analysis with RF indicated that RF-T was the best predictor of investment in pregnancy and couple functioning. In sum, the study provides preliminary evidence that RF-T can be reliably measured and is a valid construct that has potential usefulness for research and clinical practice. It highlights the importance of mentalization specifically about trauma and suggests that it is not the experience of trauma per se, but the absence of mentalization regarding trauma that is associated with difficulties in close relationships and in making the transition to parenthood.