Examining the Association Between Mentalizing and Parental Mental Health in a Sample of Caregivers of Children With Asthma

摘要

Caregivers of children with asthma are at a higher risk of experiencing mental health difficulties than caregivers of healthy children. Mentalizing is a psychological construct that defines the ability of understanding one's own and others' states of mind. Poor levels of mentalizing are strongly associated with a wide range of mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety, or emotional dysregulation. This study is the first to examine the associations between mentalizing and mental health in a sample of caregivers of children with asthma. Caregivers of children (M-age = 6.53 years, SD = 3.72 years, age range = 1-17 years) with asthma were recruited from social media support groups and the Asthma UK charity research bulletin. Participants completed self-report measures of mentalizing, family functioning, and mood and anxiety difficulties. A total of 88 caregivers completed the full survey. Results indicated that poorer mentalizing capacity was significantly associated with poorer family functioning and increased mood and anxiety symptomatology. Poor mentalizing was significantly associated with increased levels of depression, hypomania, and anxiety, explaining 16% of variance in depression and 10% of variance in anxiety. Family functioning was not a significant predictor after controlling for the effect of mentalizing. These findings suggest that mentalizing might be a valued treatment target to improve the mental health of this population. The results suggest that mentalizing could complement previously identified factors such as family functioning in understanding caregivers' mental health. Further investigation into the role of mentalizing in the mental health of this population is warranted.