Are Affective Temperaments, Emotional Abuse, and Neglect Involved in Mentalization Abilities in Patients With Psychiatric Disorders?

Abstract

Patients who have experienced emotional abuse and neglect often develop psychiatric disorders in adulthood. However, whether emotional abuse, neglect, and mentalization abilities relate to one another and the role of possible mediators of this relationship in psychiatric patients are still unknown. We evaluated the potential role of affective temperament as a mediator of the relationship between emotional abuse and neglect and mentalization. We performed a cross-sectional study of 252 adult psychiatric inpatients. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Mentalization Questionnaire, and Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) were administered. Results showed a significant indirect effect of emotional abuse and neglect on scores on the Mentalization Questionnaire through the TEMPS-A (b = 0.25, 95% confidence interval [0.143–0.375]), demonstrating that affective temperament mediates the relationship among emotional abuse, neglect, and mentalization impairment in psychiatric patients. A careful evaluation of mentalization abilities in patients with psychiatric disorders and who have a history of emotional abuse and neglect is necessary for a better understanding of psychopathology and for the choice of therapeutic strategies.

Bullying, Psychological, and Physical Trauma During Early Life Increase Risk of Major Depressive Disorder in Adulthood: A Nationwide Community Sample of Korean Adults

“…In addition, alexithymia, which means difficulty in identifying and describing feelings and modulating states of emotional arousal, is associated with somatization ( 45 , 46 ). People who have experienced early life trauma tend to have lower mentalization, the ability to perceive and interpret human behaviors in terms of intentional mental states ( 47 ). Considering the results of these previous studies, depressed patients who have experienced early life trauma may find it difficult to actively express their depressed mood.…”

Dimensional model of adolescent personality pathology, reflective functioning, and emotional maltreatment

“…Such impairment might arise because the trauma of maltreatment intensifies the individual's sense of isolation, creating a feeling that their inner thoughts and feelings are uniquely theirs and unshared (50). Among various forms of maltreatment, CEA stands out for its especially detrimental impact on adolescents' mentalizing capacities (30,32,(51)(52)(53). Instances of CEA where parents misinterpret and misattribute their children's reactions and intentions, and subsequently belittle, harm, bewilder, and manipulate them, prove particularly deleterious for the normal development of mentalizing.…”