Which Space for Fathers’ Mentalizing? A Systematic Review on Paternal Reflective Functioning, Mind-Mindedness and Insightfulness

Abstract

Over the past twenty years research interest has been focused on deepening the role of parental mentalizing. Nevertheless, few studies have specifically addressed the role played by fathers’ mentalizing. This systematic review aims to bridge this gap by offering an exploration of paternal mentalizing within attachment theory considering three different operationalizations: Reflective Functioning, Parental Insightfulness and Mind-Mindedness. Starting from this, the main goals of this systematic review are: (1) to show the effect of paternal mentalizing on child’s outcomes or paternal role within the family system, (2) to increase research exchange between different theoretical frameworks, enhancing the knowledge of the mentalization construct, (3) to explore under-researched areas and implications for research and clinical practice. PsycInfo, PsycArticle, Web Of Science, Scopus, Medline, PubMed and EMBASE were systematically searched for articles published until February 7, 2021. In total, 6311 studies were considered for the systematic review; of these, thirty-six met the inclusion criteria. The included studies were subsequently split on the basis of the specific mentalizing operationalization. Overall, the data showed significant associations between paternal mentalizing and both fathers’ parenting features and variables related to the paternal broader functioning within the family context. This systematic review also confirms the role of fathers’ mentalizing processes in relation to paternal features and child’s outcomes. In conclusion, further studies aimed at examining paternal mentalizing specific influences, exploring the causal pathways related to paternal mentalizing and investigating the relationship between different mentalizing dimensions and their diverse effects are recommended.

How Coparenting Is Linked to Depression among Chinese Young Girls and Boys: Evidence from a Network Analysis

“…In the meantime, this heightened insecurity contributes to adolescents being more susceptible to developing depression [19]. In addition to the vital impact of both positive and negative paternal coparenting on children's mental health, previous research has also underscored the role of fathers' mentalizing, such as Reflective Functioning, Parental Insightfulness, and Mind-Mindedness, alongside father-child attachment processes and fathers' emotional regulation, in enhancing children's socio-emotional competencies and social adaptation [16,28,[113][114][115]. Thus, future research could integrate these factors comprehensively to thoroughly explore the unique role of fathers in children's development.…”

“…Nonetheless, in the context of societal transformations, with mothers increasingly entering the workforce and fathers returning home to take on more childcare responsibilities, there has been a gradual equalization of parental roles between fathers and mothers within the family [27]. Consequently, the paternal influence on child rearing has gained increasing recognition [16,20,28]. Additionally, empirical research has also demonstrated that fathers and mothers played distinct roles and exhibited unique characteristics in their parenting approaches [29,30].…”

Parental representations after preterm birth: a narrative review

“…The recent systematic review by Larsson et al (2022) points out the importance of considering the triad after a child's premature birth. The systematic review conducted by Charpentier Mora et al (2023) confirmed the influence of paternal mentalizing on both the fathers' parenting features and the child's outcomes. It is therefore crucial to investigate the role played by paternal representations, particularly fathers' mentalizing specific influence, in the context of preterm birth.…”

Harsh parenting among veterans: parents' military-related PTSD, mentalization, and pre-military trauma

“…We suggest the potential posttraumatic growth of veteran parents who experienced pre-military physical trauma. While contemporary research on parental mentalization has been largely mother-centric (Charpentier Mora et al, 2023), our study, with its focus on veteran parents, underscores the vital role of paternal mentalization in the realm of parenting.…”