Mentalizing in psychotherapeutic processes of patients with eating disorders
Improvement in the capacity to mentalize (i.e., reflective functioning/RF) is considered both, an outcome variable as well as a possible change mechanism in psychotherapy. We explored variables related to (in-session) RF in patients with an eating disorder (ED) treated in a pilot study on a Mentaliz...
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Published in | Frontiers in psychiatry Vol. 15; p. 1367863 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Switzerland
Frontiers Media S.A
2024
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Improvement in the capacity to mentalize (i.e., reflective functioning/RF) is considered both, an outcome variable as well as a possible change mechanism in psychotherapy. We explored variables related to (in-session) RF in patients with an eating disorder (ED) treated in a pilot study on a Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) - oriented day hospital program. The research questions were secondary and focused on the psychotherapeutic process: What average RF does the group of patients show in sessions and does it change over the course of a single session? Are differences found between sections in which ED symptomatology is discussed and those in which it is not? Does RF increase after MBT-type interventions?
1232 interaction segments from 77 therapy sessions of 19 patients with EDs were rated for RF by reliable raters using the In-Session RF Scale. Additionally, content (ED symptomatology yes/no) and certain MBT interventions were coded. Statistical analysis was performed by mixed models.
Patients showed a rather low RF, which increased on average over the course of a session. If ED symptomatology was discussed, this was associated with significantly lower RF, while MBT-type interventions led to a significant increase in RF.
Results suggest that in-session mentalizing can be stimulated by MBT-typical interventions. RF seems to be more impaired when disorder-specific issues are addressed. Further studies have to show if improving a patient´s ability to mentalize their own symptoms is related to better outcomes. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1664-0640 1664-0640 |
DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1367863 |