Parents' Attachment Style and their Reflective Functioning: A study in social cognition

Background and Aim: According to the recent studies in cognitive psychology, parental reflective functioning is one of the most important functions in the actualization of social cognition. However, there is still room to investigate relating contributing factors and mechanisms. In Iran, this field is new and there is no instrument assessment. Methods: To this end, a sample of ۳۰۸ parents (fathers or mothers) of children under ۳ years old, with average general health, were selected by using cluster sampling from kindergartens in ۱۰ urban areas of Tehran. The research instruments involved PRFQ (luyten et al, ۲۰۱۷), The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-۲۸, Goldberg, ۱۹۷۲) and Attachment Style Questionnaire (Hazen and Shaver, ۱۹۸۷). Results: The aim of this study was to introduce the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) which its psychometric properties in Iran were examined by the authors of the present article for the first time, and also to investigate the relationship between parent's attachment styles with their quality of reflective functioning. Conclusion According to the results, there was significant negative correlation between the parent's secure attachment and "pre-mentalizing mode" (p <۰.۰۵ and certainty about mental state (p <۰.۰۱) subscales. Also, a significant positive correlation found between parent's secure attachment and "interest and security" subscale (p <۰.۰۵). Parent's avoidant attachment were positively correlated to pre-mentalizing (p <۰.۰۵) and certainty about mental state. Also parent's ambivalent attachment were positively correlated with pre-mentalizing (p <۰.۰۱) and certainty about mental state (p <۰.۰۵) respectively. These results are in line with psychoanalytical theories suggesting the special role of parental attachment style in parental functions, in particular parental reflective function.

کلیدواژه ها:

Social Cognition ، Parental Reflective Functioning ، Attachment Style