{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T18:53:41Z","timestamp":1789844021972,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2000,8,1]],"date-time":"2000-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":965088000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Am Psychoanal Assoc"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2000,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The author outlines his concept of reflective function or mentalization, which is defined as the capacity to think about mental states in oneself and in others. He presents evidence to suggest that the capacity for reflective awareness in a child's caregiver increases the likelihood of the child's secure attachment, which in turn facilitates the development of mentalization in the child. He proposes that a secure attachment relationship offers the child a chance to explore the mind of the caregiver, and in this way to learn about minds; he formulates this model of the birth of the psychological self as a variation on the Cartesian cogito: `My caregiver thinks of me as thinking and therefore I exist as a thinker.` This model is then applied to provide insight into some personality-disordered individuals who were victims of childhood abuse. The author proposes (1) that individuals who experience early trauma may defensively inhibit their capacity to mentalize to avoid having to think about their caregiver's wish to harm them; and (2) that some characteristics of severe borderline personality disorder may be rooted in developmental pathology associated with this inhibition. He offers evidence for and some qualifications of this model, and argues that the therapeutic effect of psychoanalysis depends on its capacity to activate patients' ability to evolve an awareness of mental states and thus find meaning in their own and other people's behavior.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/00030651000480040701","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,4,29]],"date-time":"2008-04-29T13:58:32Z","timestamp":1209477512000},"page":"1129-1146","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":206,"title":["Attachment and Borderline Personality Disorder"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"48","author":[{"given":"Peter","family":"Fonagy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University College London, , Anna Freud Centre, Child and Family Center and Center for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Menninger Foundation, Topeka"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2000,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"atypb1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0954579400000134"},{"key":"atypb2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511597985.013"},{"key":"atypb3","first-page":"117","volume":"4","author":"Barach, P.","year":"1991","journal-title":"Dissociation Progress in the Dissociative Disorders"},{"key":"atypb4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S095457940000585X"},{"key":"atypb5","first-page":"12","volume":"7","author":"Benjamin, L.","year":"1994","journal-title":"Dissociation Progress in the Dissociative Disorders"},{"key":"atypb6","unstructured":"Bretherton, I. (1991). Intentional communication and the development of an understanding of mind. In Children's Theories of Mind: Mental States and Social Understanding, ed. D. Frye & C. Moore. Hilldale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 271\u2014289."},{"key":"atypb7","unstructured":"Carlson, E. & Sroufe, L.A. (1995). Contribution of attachment theory to developmental psychopathology. In Developmental Psychopathology, vol. 1: Theory and Methods, ed. D. Cicchetti & D.J. Cohen. New York : Wiley, pp. 581\u2014617."},{"key":"atypb8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0885-2014(94)90012-4"},{"key":"atypb9","volume-title":"The Intentional Stance","author":"Dennett, D.","year":"1987"},{"key":"atypb10","unstructured":"Fischer, K.W., Kenny, S.L. & Pipp, S.L. (1990). How cognitive process and environmental conditions organize discontinuities in the development of abstractions. In Higher Stages of Development, ed. C.N. Alexander , E.J. Langer, & R.M. Oetzel. 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(1991). Metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive monitoring, and singular (coherent) vs. multiple (incoherent) models of attachment: Findings and directions for future research. In Attachment Across the Life Cycle, ed. C.M. Parkes, J. Stevenson-Hinde, & P. Marris. London: Tavistock \/Routledge, pp. 127\u2014159."},{"key":"atypb26","volume-title":"The insecure disorganized\/disoriented attachment pattern in infancy: Precursors and sequelae","author":"Hesse, E.","year":"1991"},{"key":"atypb27","first-page":"1235","volume":"74","author":"Mayes, L.","year":"1993","journal-title":"International Journal of Psycho-Analysis"},{"key":"atypb28","unstructured":"\u2014\u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014\u2014 & Klin, A. (1991). Experiencing self and others: A psychoanalytic perspective on theory of mind and autism. In Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from Autism, ed. H.T.S. Baron-Cohen & D. Cohen. 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