‘’Mirror of the mind’’ – Exploring mentalization across parents of typically and atypically developing children

The current study aimed to examine mentalization and explore its main predictors across parents of typically and atypically developing children. A cross-sectional correlational design was used to assess key predictors of parental mentalization. A total number of 182 parents completed our questionnaires, including Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ), Perceived Competence Scale (PCS) and Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ). Results revealed that parents of typically developing children used significantly more mental descriptors when characterizing their children compared to parents of atypically developing children. Parents of children with disabilities used significantly fewer mental descriptors and predominantly characterized their children in terms of diagnosis-related symptoms. Perceived competence and the level of external control significantly predicted parental mentalization across both groups, therefore being considered as key determinants of self-reported parental mentalization.