‘Rich’ and ‘poor’ in mentalizing: Do expert mentalizers exist?

This study hypothesized that three groups would be distinguishable on the basis of their mentalizing capacities. In a cross-sectional design, Psychological Therapists (‘expert’ mentalizers;n = 51), individuals with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder ( ‘poor’ mentalizers;n = 43) and members of the general population ( ‘non-clinical controls’;n = 35) completed a battery of self-report measures. These assessed the mentalizing of self and of others (using an extended version of the Reflective Function Questionnaire (RFQ18)), alexithymia and cognitive empathy. As hypothesized, Psychological Therapists ’ scores were higher than controls on self-mentalizing and control group scores were higher than those with BPD. Cognitive empathy scores in the BPD group indicated markedly lower capacities than the other two groups. Contrary to predictions, no significant differences were found between groups on mentalizing others in RFQ18 scores. The Psychological Therapist and BPD profiles were characterized by differential impairment with regards to mentalizing self and others but in opposing directions. Results suggest that the RFQ18 can identify groups with expertise in mentalizing. Implications of th ese results for the effectiveness of psychological therapy and of Psychological Therapists are discussed.
Source: PLoS One - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research