The Relationship Between Reflective Functioning and Epistemic Trust Amongst High-risk Caregivers: Secondary Data Analysis of an RCT and Process Evaluation Study of UK Mentalization-based Parenting Intervention Program—the Lighthouse Parenting Program (LPP)
Faculty Mentor
Nicholas Papouchis
Major/Area of Research
Clinical Psychology
Description
The present study is secondary analysis using data from a UK–based parenting intervention study to investigate the relationship between parental reflective functioning (PRF) and epistemic trust and to examine the potential moderating effect of parent sex on this relationship. Participants were recruited by social work teams across five Local Authority Children’s Social Care sites in England. No direct relationship was found between PRF and epistemic variables. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between PRF and parent sex, suggesting related underlying processes are shared across sexes. An exploratory post-hoc analysis found that representational risk (ARR)—reflecting certain risks within parental representations of themselves as caregivers, their child, and their relationship with the child that are specifically linked to disorganized infant attachment—to be a significant predictor of epistemic trust and mistrust. Although both ARR and PRF reflect aspects of parental reflective functioning, only ARR was associated with epistemic trust variables. This discrepancy is likely attributable to disparities in terms of measurement dimensionality and sensitivity across different risk levels. These findings underscore the multidimensional nature of reflective functioning and highlight the necessity for refined measures that are sensitive to these meaningful nuances. This study establishes a foundation for future research focusing on the complexities of PRF in the context of epistemic trust among caregivers, particularly those characterized as high-risk.
The Relationship Between Reflective Functioning and Epistemic Trust Amongst High-risk Caregivers: Secondary Data Analysis of an RCT and Process Evaluation Study of UK Mentalization-based Parenting Intervention Program—the Lighthouse Parenting Program (LPP)
The present study is secondary analysis using data from a UK–based parenting intervention study to investigate the relationship between parental reflective functioning (PRF) and epistemic trust and to examine the potential moderating effect of parent sex on this relationship. Participants were recruited by social work teams across five Local Authority Children’s Social Care sites in England. No direct relationship was found between PRF and epistemic variables. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between PRF and parent sex, suggesting related underlying processes are shared across sexes. An exploratory post-hoc analysis found that representational risk (ARR)—reflecting certain risks within parental representations of themselves as caregivers, their child, and their relationship with the child that are specifically linked to disorganized infant attachment—to be a significant predictor of epistemic trust and mistrust. Although both ARR and PRF reflect aspects of parental reflective functioning, only ARR was associated with epistemic trust variables. This discrepancy is likely attributable to disparities in terms of measurement dimensionality and sensitivity across different risk levels. These findings underscore the multidimensional nature of reflective functioning and highlight the necessity for refined measures that are sensitive to these meaningful nuances. This study establishes a foundation for future research focusing on the complexities of PRF in the context of epistemic trust among caregivers, particularly those characterized as high-risk.