IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i7p2420-d340546.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relationship between Mentalizing and Working Conditions in Health Care

Author

Listed:
  • Dagmar Steinmair

    (Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, University Hospital St. Pölten, Dunant-Platz 1, 3100 St. Pölten, Austria)

  • Felix Richter

    (Department of Psychoanalysis und Psychotherapy, and Teaching Center/Postgraduate Unit, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria)

  • Henriette Löffler-Stastka

    (Department of Psychoanalysis und Psychotherapy, and Teaching Center/Postgraduate Unit, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

Mentalizing describes the human ability to comprehend one’s own and others’ mental states and is seen as one of the core competencies of psychotherapists. Current research has emphasized the importance of both early dyadic attachment as well as broader sociocultural environmental input on the development of mentalizing. This study investigates whether mentalizing skills, operationalized via reflective functioning (RF), might be influenced by training and working conditions. This study was a matched case-control comparison, cross-sectional study. RF was assessed in a total of 10 psychotherapy trainees working in private practice at the beginning (group A; n = 5) and end (group B; n = 5) of their psychotherapy training (training association: Gestalt Therapy, Institute of Integrative Gestalttherapy Vienna) and in a total of 40 health professionals (institution: General Hospital Vienna—Social Medical Center South, Vienna, Department of Psychiatry, acute psychiatric ward) at the beginning of (group C; n = 20) and without (group D; n = 20) mentalization based therapy training. The participants differed from each other regarding their training, but participants of the same institution were matched. RF scores were significantly higher in group A and B than in group C and D (A,C: p = 0.0065, Odds Ratio (OR): 0.0294; A,D: p = 0.0019, OR: 0.0132; B,C: p = 0.0065, OR: 0.0294, B,D: p = 0.0019, OR: 0.0132). RF scores were not significantly different among groups A and group B (A,B: p > 0.9999) or between groups C and D (C,D: p = 0.6050). The current study suggests that mentalizing skills might be rather slow to improve by training, but that they might be influenced by the context.

Suggested Citation

  • Dagmar Steinmair & Felix Richter & Henriette Löffler-Stastka, 2020. "Relationship between Mentalizing and Working Conditions in Health Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2420-:d:340546
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2420/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2420/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fiona Cocker & Nerida Joss, 2016. "Compassion Fatigue among Healthcare, Emergency and Community Service Workers: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, June.
    2. Angela Sweeney & Sarah Fahmy & Fiona Nolan & Nicola Morant & Zoe Fox & Brynmor Lloyd-Evans & David Osborn & Emma Burgess & Helen Gilburt & Rosemarie McCabe & Mike Slade & Sonia Johnson, 2014. "The Relationship between Therapeutic Alliance and Service User Satisfaction in Mental Health Inpatient Wards and Crisis House Alternatives: A Cross-Sectional Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-13, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marin G. Olson & Karly M. Pyles & Danielle Kristen Nadorff, 2023. "Give until It Hurts: An Exploratory Analysis of Mental Health Workers’ Wellness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(20), pages 1-11, October.
    2. Maike Riegel & Victoria Klemm & Stefan Bushuven & Reinhard Strametz, 2022. "Self-Stigmatization of Healthcare Workers in Intensive Care, Acute, and Emergency Medicine," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-9, October.
    3. Piat, Myra & Sofouli, Eleni & Wainwright, Megan & Albert, Hélene & Rivest, Marie-Pier & Casey, Regina & LeBlanc, Sébastien & Labonté, Lise & O’Rourke, Joseph J. & Kasdorf, Sarah, 2022. "Translating mental health recovery guidelines into recovery-oriented innovations: A strategy combining implementation teams and a facilitated planning process," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. María Dolores Ruiz-Fernández & Esteban Pérez-García & Ángela María Ortega-Galán, 2020. "Quality of Life in Nursing Professionals: Burnout, Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-12, February.
    5. Claudia Pieper & Sarah Schröer & Anna-Lisa Eilerts, 2019. "Evidence of Workplace Interventions—A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-13, September.
    6. Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois & Marion Trousselard & Bruno Pereira & Jeannot Schmidt & Maelys Clinchamps & David Thivel & Ukadike Chris Ugbolue & Farès Moustafa & Céline Occelli & Guillaume Vallet & F, 2021. "Protocol of the Study on Emergency Health Care Workers’ Responses Evaluated by Karasek Questionnaire: The SEEK-Study Protocol," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    7. Andreea Iulia Socaciu & Razvan Ionut & Maria Barsan & Andreea Petra Ungur & Armand Gabriel Rajnoveanu, 2020. "Burnout in Gastroenterology Unit Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-10, April.
    8. Joel S. Zugai & Jane Stein‐Parbury & Michael Roche, 2018. "The nature of the therapeutic alliance between nurses and consumers with Anorexia Nervosa in the inpatient setting: A mixed‐methods study," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1-2), pages 416-426, January.
    9. Miguel Den R. Sade & Ave V. Eragan & Dr. Mary Rachelle R. Wapaño, 2022. "The Mental Health of Medical Frontliners during the COVID 19 Pandemic," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(7), pages 827-836, July.
    10. Wan-Ju Cheng & Li-Chung Pien & Tomohide Kubo & Yawen Cheng, 2020. "Trends in Work Conditions and Associations with Workers’ Health in Recent 15 Years: The Role of Job Automation Probability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-12, July.
    11. Stelson, Elisabeth A. & Sabbath-Clayton, Lauren L. & Sorensen, Glorian & Kubzansky, Laura D. & Berkman, Lisa F. & Sabbath, Erika L., 2022. "Residential addiction treatment providers: Identifying the role of social context in worker health and turnover," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    12. Antonio R. Moreno‐Poyato & Pilar Delgado‐Hito & Juan M. Leyva‐Moral & Georgina Casanova‐Garrigós & Pilar Montesó‐Curto, 2019. "Implementing evidence‐based practices on the therapeutic relationship in inpatient psychiatric care: A participatory action research," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(9-10), pages 1614-1622, May.
    13. Yuzheng Wang & Lingqiu Liao & Xiaoxiao Lin & Yabin Sun & Ning Wang & Jinyan Wang & Fei Luo, 2021. "A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis of Mindfulness and Meditation Research from 1900 to 2021," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-25, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2420-:d:340546. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.