Exploring mentalization, trust, communication quality, and alienation in adolescents

INTRODUCTION: A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the importance of mentalization for adolescents’ psychosocial functioning; however, further research is needed to understand links between mentalization and other socio-cognitive factors. The aim of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between a teen’s capacity to mentalize and three attachment-related factors: parent-teen trust, parent-teen communication, and parent-teen alienation. METHODS: In an online survey, 82 (mainly) Australian adolescents (57 female; 23 male; 2 non-binary; mean age 17.09 years) completed: i) The Children’s Eyes Test, which measured mentalization; and ii) The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment-45, which measured trust, communication quality, and alienation. RESULTS: In teens’ relationships with both mothers and fathers, trust and communication quality were significantly positively correlated (p = .001) when controlling for age and gender. Both were significantly negatively correlated with alienation (p = .001) with control variables included. Capacity to mentalize did not correlate with trust, communication quality, or alienation in relationships with either mothers or fathers (p ≤ .05). CONCLUSIONS: Possible reasons are proposed for why no relationship was found between mentalization and trust, communication quality, or alienation. Implications for future research are discussed.