The protective role of mentalizing: Reflective functioning as a mediator between child maltreatment, psychopathology and parental attitude in expecting parents

Abstract

Background: Childhood maltreatment impacts parenting and has intergenerational consequences. It is therefore crucial to identify clinically responsive resilience-promoting factors in pregnant women and expecting men with history of childhood maltreatment. Mentalization, or reflective functioning, appears as a promising concept to understand risk and resilience in the face of childhood maltreatment.

Objective: This study evaluated the multivariate relationship between exposure to childhood maltreatment, reflective functioning, psychological symptoms and parental attitude in expecting parents.

Methods: Two hundred and thirty-five pregnant women and 66 expecting fathers completed self-report assessment measures of childhood trauma, reflective functioning, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, parental sense of competence and antenatal attachment. Twenty-eight percent (n = 85) of the community sample reported personal histories of childhood maltreatment.

Results: Structural equation modeling indicated that reflective functioning (a) partially mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and psychological symptoms during pregnancy and (b) independently predicted participants' perception of parental competence and psychological investment toward the unborn child.

Conclusion: Overall, this study provides empirical evidence of the protective role of reflective functioning during the prenatal period in parents with histories of childhood maltreatment.

Keywords: Antenatal attachment; Child maltreatment; Mental health; Pregnancy; Reflective function.