Self-Rated Mentalizing Mediates the Relationship Between Stress and Coping in a Non-Clinical Sample

Abstract

Background

The clinical concept of mentalizing has recently been extended into non-clinical contexts. In particular, the protective function of robust mentalizing as a processing capacity of interpersonal and intrapsychic events has become a focus of consideration. Theoretical approaches hypothesize that mentalizing may allow for an adequate self-awareness in the face of aversive experiences such as stress, leading to a reappraisal of these experiences and therefore enables the use of adaptive coping behaviors.

Objective

The study aimed to investigate the association between coping behavior, mentalizing and experiences of stress.

Method

534 healthy adults completed the German-language Stress Processing Questionnaire (SVF), the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ), and a short scale of the Trierer Inventory of Chronic Stress (TICS) in a cross-sectional research design.

Results

Correlational analyses suggested associations between coping and mentalizing. Furthermore, MZQ scores predicted both positive and negative coping behavior. The relationship between stress and both negative and positive coping was mediated by mentalizing capacity.

Conclusion

Findings confirm the hypothesis that mentalizing may represent a coping resource within a resilience framework. An implementation of the concept in preventive mental health interventions is discussed.