The mindful trajectory: Developmental changes in mentalizing throughout adolescence and young adulthood

Abstract

Background Mentalizing and psychological mindedness are two key, partially overlapping facets of social cognition. While mentalizing refers to the ability to reflect on one’s own mental states and the mental states of others, psychological mindedness describes the ability for self-reflection and the inclination to communicate with others about one’s own mental states. Purpose This study examined the development of mentalizing and psychological mindedness throughout adolescence and into young adulthood, and the interplay between the two with gender and the Big Five Personality Traits. Methods 432 adolescents and young adults (ages 14–30) were recruited from two independent schools and two universities. Participants completed a set of self-report measures. Results A curvilinear trend in both mentalizing and psychological mindedness indicated a gradual development of these capacities with age, peaking in young adulthood. Across all age groups, females had consistently higher mentalizing scores than males. For females, scores only changed significantly between age bands 17–18 to 20+ (p<0.001), ES (d = 1.07, 95% CI [.1.52–.62]). However, for males, a significant change in scores appeared between two age bands of 14 to 15–16 (p<0.003), ES (d = .45, 95% CI [.82–.07]), and 17–18 to 20+ (p<0.001), ES (d = .6, 95% CI [.1.08–.1]). The change in psychological mindedness scores differed, and females did not have consistently higher scores than males. Females’ scores were only significantly higher for ages 14 (p<0.01), ES (d = .43, 95% CI [.82–.04]), and 15–16 (p<0.01), ES (d = .5, 95% CI [.87–.11]). As with the development of mentalizing abilities, female scores in psychological mindedness remained stable from 14 to 18 years of age, with a significant change between age bands 17–18 and 20+ (p<0.01), ES (d = 1.2, 95% CI [1.7–.67]). Contrastingly, for males significant change occurred between 15–16, 17–18 (p<0.01), ES (d = .65, 95% CI [1.1–.18]) and 20+ (p<0.01), ES (d = .84, 95% CI [1.5–.2]). A significant positive association was found between mentalizing and psychological mindedness and the personality traits of Agreeableness, Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness (p<0.0001). Psychological mindedness had a weaker positive correlation with Extraversion and Openness to Experience (p<0.05). Conclusions The discussion is focused on the interpretation of the findings in light of social cognition and brain development research.

A short version of the reflective functioning questionnaire: Validation in a greek sample

“…This 45-item scale responses are rated on a 4-point scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” (= 1) to “strongly agree” (= 4). A significant positive correlation has been reported between the PMS and the RFQ (a 15-item unidimensional coding version) [ 54 ]. In this study, the scale’s internal consistency was adequate (Cronbach’s α = .84).…”

“…Within this context, the unidimensionality of the RFQ-8 has been proposed as a better solution [ 40 , 41 , 46 , 47 ]. In the same line of thinking, Desatnik and colleagues [ 54 ], in a study involving a sample of adolescents and young adults, used a 15-item unidimensional coding version of the RFQ, measuring strength or weakness in mentalizing, as more suitable for assessing mentalizing in non-clinical samples.…”

The role of affect regulation and mentalizing in mediating the attachment-epistemic trust relationship. Differences between junior and senior students…Who is at risk?

“…Our interest in comparing junior (first and second-year) and senior (third and fourth-year) students is influenced by two areas of research: (a) neuroscience studies suggesting developmental differences in cognitive emotion regulation (ER; reappraisal and suppression) and mentalizing between individuals aged 17-18 and those over 20 [8], aligning with junior and senior student groups, respectively; and (b) educational and mental health literature that identifies first and second-year students as being particularly at risk [9]. Additionally, university students, regardless of their year of study, are often reported to be at risk for mental health issues and poor wellbeing [10].…”

“…It operates across four dimensions: (a) automatic-controlled, (b) internally-externally focused, (c) self-other, and (d) cognitive-affective. This capacity encompasses a wide range of social cognitive processes related to mental states, including perception, recognition, and description [15; 16; 8].…”

“…The roots of mentalizing begin in infancy within early attachment relationships, where the child’s complex emotions are “mirrored” by attachment figures in a contingent and marked way [8]. These mirroring interactions enable the child to develop second-order representations of their own subjective experiences, which positively impacts affect regulation and self-control.…”