High degree of uncertain reflective functioning in mothers with substance use disorder

Having a substance use disorder (SUD) is associated with impaired reflective functioning (RF) or mentalizing, implying reduced capacity to reflect on internal mental states of the self and others. This has adverse effects on parenting and the child's development. High uncertain RF style prevents an adequate RF due to a concrete, rigid way of mentalizing. High certain RF style prevents adequate RF by making individuals too certain that their view of the world is the true and only one, thereby implying no need to mentalize others' state of mind. We investigated the degree of certain RF and uncertain RF in mothers with SUD with the recently developed screening measure Reflective Functioning Questionnaire-8 (RFQ). Further, we measured the concurrent validity of the RFQ and the more commonly used Parent Development Interview (PDI) measuring a one-dimensional scale of RF