TY - JOUR TI - The parent's capacity to treat the child as a psychological agent: constructs, measures and implications for developmental psychopathology EP - 754 AV - public Y1 - 2008/// KW - maternal mind-mindedness KW - reflective functioning KW - parental mentalizing KW - developmental psychopathology KW - MATERNAL MIND-MINDEDNESS KW - META-EMOTION PHILOSOPHY KW - ATTACHMENT SECURITY KW - INFANT ATTACHMENT KW - MOTHERS REPRESENTATIONS KW - PREDICTIVE-VALIDITY KW - ADULT ATTACHMENT KW - SOCIAL COGNITION KW - TRANSMISSION GAP KW - BEHAVIOR ID - discovery150118 N2 - Recent studies of the relationship between parenting and child development have included a focus on the parent's capacity to treat the child as a psychological agent. Several constructs have been developed to refer to this capacity, for example maternal mind-mindedness, reflective functioning, and parental mentalizing. In this review article, we compare and contrast different constructs from diverse theoretical backgrounds that have been developed to operationalize parental mentalizing. We examine the empirical evidence to date in support of each of the constructs and review the relevant measures associated with each construct. Next, we discuss the possibility that these apparently diverse constructs may tap into the same underlying neurobiological socio-cognitive system. We conclude by proposing a testable model for describing the links between parental mentalization, the development of mentalizing in children, and child psychopathology. PB - BLACKWELL PUBLISHING N1 - This is the accepted version of the following article: Sharp, C; Fonagy, P; (2008) The parent's capacity to treat the child as a psychological agent: Constructs, measures and implications for developmental psychopathology. SOC DEV , 17 (3) 737 - 754, which has been published in final form at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00457.x IS - 3 VL - 17 SP - 737 JF - Social Development A1 - Sharp, C A1 - Fonagy, P SN - 0961-205X UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00457.x ER -