Mentalization and autobiographical memory as clinical components of the self and identity

Abstract

Psychoanalysts have suggested that a mentalization process is required for the transformation of drives and affects into mental representations of self and others. Meanwhile, neuroscientists suggest that episodic memory, through autonoetic consciousness, is crucially involved in the elaboration of the Self and subjective experience. This research empirically investigates the relationship between the quality of mentalization and the efficacy of autobiographical recall, and considers childhood trauma and psychopathology as possible related factors. Thirty participants presenting with either high or low mentalization profiles according to the Mental States Rating Systems (MSRS) were submitted to the TEMPau, a semi-structured interview designed to assess the quality of autobiographical recall from several criteria (episodicity, self-perspective and consciousness). Childhood trauma was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The Symptom Checklist (SCL- 90-R) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SCID-II) were used to assess global symptomatology and Axis-II disorders respectively. As expected, levels of mentalization are related to higher levels of childhood abuse (emotional, physical and sexual) and symptomatology (SCL-90-R Global Severity Index). However, contrary to our expectation, better autobiographical memory is associated with poor mentalization profiles, although spontaneity of recall is less efficient in those subjects. No significant relation was found between Axis-II disorders and traits, and other clinical variables.