Exploring Paternal Mentalization Among Fathers of Toddlers Through a Clay-Sculpting Task.

ABSTRACT: This study explored parental mentalization processes as they unfolded during a sculpting task administered to fathers of toddlers. Parental mentalization-the parent's ability to understand behavior (his/her own as a parent and that of their child) based on its underlying mental states (Luyten et al., 2017)-is considered crucial within parent-child relationships (Fonagy et al., 1998) and child development (Steele and Steele, 2008). Eleven Israeli first-time fathers (n = 11) of children aged 2-3 (mean = 2.3) were asked to sculpt a representation of themselves with their child using clay. Following the task, the fathers were interviewed while observing the sculpture they had created. Qualitative thematic analysis integrated three types of data-video footage of the sculpting processes,

SUBMITTER: Grenimann Bauch N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7960673 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature