Mentalization and Depression: Theoretical Concepts, 					Treatment Approaches and Empirical Studies – 					an Overview

Fischer-Kern, Melitta; Tmej, Anna

doi:10.13109/zptm.2019.65.2.162

Cited by 43 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…With regard to depression and anxiety, studies have amply demonstrated the role of attachment disruptions and (early) adversity more generally in explaining vulnerability to these disorders, the negative impact of these problems on mentalizing, and the role of impairments in mentalizing with regard to both self and others in pathways to depression and anxiety , Nolte et al 2011. There is also evidence that mentalizing impairments are in part a consequence of, and are exacerbated by, mood disturbances and the duration of mood problems (Fischer-Kern & Tmej 2019, Li et al 2015, Nolte et al 2011.…”

Section: Mentalizing and Other Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mentalizing Approach to Psychopathology: State of the Art and Future Directions

Luyten

Campbell

Allison

et al. 2020

Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol.

484

405

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mentalizing is the capacity to understand others and oneself in terms of internal mental states. It is assumed to be underpinned by four dimensions: automatic–controlled, internally–externally focused, self–other, and cognitive–affective. Research suggests that mental disorders are associated with different imbalances in these dimensions. Addressing the quality of mentalizing as part of psychosocial treatments may benefit individuals with various mental disorders. We suggest that mentalizing is a helpful transtheoretical and transdiagnostic concept to explain vulnerability to psychopathology and its treatment. This review summarizes the mentalizing approach to psychopathology from a developmental socioecological evolutionary perspective. We then focus on the application of the mentalizing approach to personality disorders, and we review studies that have extended this approach to other types of psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. We summarize core principles of mentalization-based treatments and preventive interventions and the evidence for their effectiveness. We conclude with recommendations for future research.

show abstract

Section: Mentalizing and Other Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mentalizing Approach to Psychopathology: State of the Art and Future Directions

Luyten

Campbell

Allison

et al. 2020

Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol.

484

405

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…B. den kognitiven Neurowissenschaften oder der Entwicklungspsycho(patho)logie und seiner hohen klinisch-therapeutischen Relevanz. In der Forschungsliteratur wurden Mentalisierungsdefizite bei einer Vielzahl an psychischen Erkrankungen untersucht [12][13][14][15][16][17] und mentalisierungsbasierte bzw. -orientierte Therapieansätze haben geradezu Hochkonjunktur [9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Die deutsche Version des Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ): Eine teststatistische Überprüfung in der Allgemeinbevölkerung

Spitzer

Zimmermann

Brähler

et al. 2020

Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ZusammenfassungDas Mentalisierungskonzept ist sowohl in der Praxis als auch der Wissenschaft breit rezipiert worden, u. a. wegen seiner hohen klinisch-therapeutischen Relevanz. Um dieses Konzept der empirisch-quantifizierenden Forschung zugänglich zu machen ist u. a. der Reflective Functioning Questionnaire mit 8 Items (RFQ-8) entwickelt worden, der 2 Skalen (Unsicherheit über mentale Zustände bzw. Hypomentalisieren und Gewissheit über mentale Zustände respektive Hypermentalisieren) umfasst. Während erste, methodisch jedoch kritisch zu bewertende teststatistische Untersuchungen dieses Selbstbeurteilungsverfahren weitgehend positiv beurteilen, stehen Analysen zur deutschen Version aus. In dieser Studie wurde die deutsche Version des RFQ-8 erstmals an einer großen Allgemeinbevölkerungsstichprobe (n=2477) psychometrisch evaluiert. Diverse konfirmatorische und explorative Faktorenanalysen zeigten, dass die ursprünglich vorgeschlagene 2-Faktoren-Lösung fehlspezifiziert ist; vielmehr ist davon auszugehen, dass der RFQ-8 ein eindimensionales Konstrukt abbildet. Nach Ausschluss von 2 teststatistisch ungenügenden Items zeigte die Skala mit 6 Items (RFQ-6) eine hohe interne Konsistenz (McDonald’s ω=0,88) sowie substantielle Rangkorrelationen mit Depressivität, Ängstlichkeit und körperlichen Beschwerden. Wir diskutieren, warum der Einsatz des RFQ-8 in Klinik und Forschung angesichts der teststatistischen Mängel sehr kritisch zu sehen ist, insbesondere was die Erfassung von Hypermentalisieren angeht.

show abstract

“…Personality functioning describes how an individual typically experiences himself or herself as well as others and includes usually dimensions of self-functioning and interpersonal functioning ( Muskin, 2014 ). First evidence of differences in personality functioning in individuals with high levels of emotional distress has been demonstrated ( Ehrenthal et al, 2012 ; Ladwig, 2016 ; Schojai, 2017 ; Tasca et al, 2018 ; Fischer-Kern and Tmej, 2019 ), and the question is whether these differences can also be found in patients with medical diseases that may be associated with increased perceived stress, like IBD. Important concepts related to stress response and coping with life stressors focus on psychodynamic structural characteristics, mentalization skills, and attachment style ( Mikulincer and Shaver, 2003 ; Zimmermann et al, 2012 ; Hayden et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher Levels of Psychological Burden and Alterations in Personality Functioning in Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aims: Is there evidence for increased psychological distress and alterations in personality functioning in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) compared to healthy controls (HCs)?Background: In patients with CD and UC, perceived stress is closely associated with changes in disease activity. The stress response is influenced by psychological burden and personality functioning, but only little is known about these factors in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).Study: A total of 62 patients with an endoscopic ensured CD/UC without remission (n = 31 per group) and 31 HC were included. Patients with an active CD/UC and HC were individually matched (n = 93, 31 per group) for age, sex, education, and disease activity. Depression and anxiety were assessed to evaluate the effect of psychological burden (Patient Health Questionnaire-9/PHQ-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7/GAD-7). Personality functioning was measured by validated questionnaires for psychodynamic structural characteristics, mentalization, and attachment (Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis-Structure Questionnaire/OPD-SQ, Mentalization Questionnaire/MZQ, and Experiences in Close Relationships scale/ECR-RD 12).Results: Levels of depression and anxiety were higher in CD/UC patients than in HC with large effect sizes. Comparing personality functioning in CD/UC with HC, psychodynamic structural characteristics differed between CD/UC and HC with medium effect sizes, with structural differences occurring primarily in the domain of self-perception and regulation. Only minor differences were found regarding mentalization and attachment. CD and UC differed only with small effect sizes.Conclusion: Our data show that compared to HC, patients with CD/UC are characterized by a higher level of psychological burden and structural alterations in the domain of self.

show abstract

Mentalization and Depression: Theoretical Concepts, Treatment Approaches and Empirical Studies – an Overview

Cited by 43 publications

References 32 publications

The Mentalizing Approach to Psychopathology: State of the Art and Future Directions

The Mentalizing Approach to Psychopathology: State of the Art and Future Directions

Die deutsche Version des Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ): Eine teststatistische Überprüfung in der Allgemeinbevölkerung

Higher Levels of Psychological Burden and Alterations in Personality Functioning in Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About