Aras, Aylin;
Fonagy, Peter;
Campbell, Chloe;
Rosan, Camilla;
(2024)
What do we know about parental embodied mentalizing? A systematic review of the construct, assessment, empirical findings, gaps and further steps.
Attachment and Human Development
, 26
(6)
pp. 588-624.
10.1080/14616734.2024.2421432.
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Abstract
Before the maturation of higher-order cognitive functions, infants primarily communicate via bodily expressions. Their behavior adjustments are also shaped by caregiver reactions, which differ in timing, intensity, and nature. Although mentalizing, or reflective functioning, is thought to influence caregiver interactions, the literature has largely focused on mentalizing as an explicit, cognitive process. Given the inherently embodied nature of early parent-infant exchanges, this emphasis left a clear gap in capturing the implicit facets of parental mentalizing. Addressing this, the concept of “parental embodied mentalizing” (PEM) was developed, which pertains to a caregiver’s implicit capacity to discern and respond to an infant’s emotional states, thoughts, and intents through bodily movements, gauged via real-time, shared, kinesthetic interplays. This systematic narrative review explores the PEM construct, scrutinizing its theoretical foundations and empirical basis. We aggregate insights from relevant studies, review the current research landscape’s strengths and limitations, and pinpoint areas ripe for further investigation.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | What do we know about parental embodied mentalizing? A systematic review of the construct, assessment, empirical findings, gaps and further steps |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/14616734.2024.2421432 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2024.2421432 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
| Keywords: | Parental mentalizing, parental embodied mentalizing, attachment, maternal sensitivity, child development |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10198857 |
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