Mentalization in adolescents with conduct problems

Problem. Mentalization refers to an individual‘s ability to understand their own and others’ behaviour in relation to mental states (Allen et al., 2008). Authors of mentalization theory raise the assumption that mentalization difficulties are related to different forms of psychopathology. In order to reveal probable relationships between mentalizing difficulties and interpersonal problems, researchers and practitioners are starting to analyse mentalization in children (Sharp, 2008, Ha et al., 2011) and adults (Bateman, Fonagy, 2008) with conduct difficulties. These studies are important in identifying main mentalization difficulties and in providing the basis for well-grounded interventions. Nevertheless, there are not enough studies exploring mentalization characteristics in adolescents with conduct problems. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of mentalization in adolescents with conduct problems. Methods. 40 adolescents from children socialization centers’ and 45 adolescents from secondary schools participated in the study. Based on ASEBA TRF6/18 and CBCL6/18 scales scores 36 adolescents with conduct problems and 40 adolescents having no conduct problems were selected for main research. The method measuring how adolescents explain behavior of other people (mentalize), was designed for this study. The Eyes Test (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) assessing participants’ ability to infer mental states from the eyes region was also used in the study. Results and conclusions. The results showed that mentalization in relation to others was worse in adolescents with conduct problems. These adolescents showed inferior ability to identify emotions and intentions in another person when they were asked to give explanations for another persons’ behavior. Their ability to infer correct mental states from the eyes’ region was worse as well. The results showed that adolescents, who were able to explain another person’s behavior more accurately, were able to infer more correct mental states from the eyes’ region