Mentalizing Care: Adult Attachment and Structural Factors as Predictors of Representational Mind-Mindedness in Early Child-Care Professionals.

Autor: Wendelboe KI; Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark., Stuart AC; Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark., Frees A; Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark., Egmose I; Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark., Mohr JE; Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark., Væver MS; Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark., Smith-Nielsen J; Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scandinavian journal of psychology [Scand J Psychol] 2024 Nov 15. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 15.
DOI: 10.1111/sjop.13083
Abstrakt: Out-of-home childcare is increasingly essential in many children's lives, significantly impacting their wellbeing and development. Central to high-quality care is the concept of caregiver mind-mindedness (MM), the ability to recognize a child as a unique psychological individual with thoughts, feelings, intentions etc., as this capacity is linked with more optimal responsiveness to children's needs. Despite its importance, the factors influencing MM in professional caregivers remain under-researched. We examined the association between structural factors, self-reported adult attachment, and caregiver representational MM assessed in an interview. The sample consisted of 128 childcare professionals from 30 Danish early childcare centers (children aged 0-2.9 years), participating in a randomized controlled trial. Overall, our results showed that longer employment in the current position was associated with higher levels of representational MM, i.e., increased tendency to describe children in terms of their mental states as opposed to more behavioral or external features. In contrast, more years of experience working in childcare as well as attachment-related avoidance were associated with lower levels of representational MM. These results indicate that personal characteristics, like adult attachment, may be a relevant focus for early education and care research and training.
(© 2024 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: