Table 1.

Examples of different levels of child and parental reflective functioning

Rating	Description
−1	Bizarre, disorganised response where mentalizing is actively avoided, or where there is an aggressive refusal to mentalize. Child: “When she gets cross? There is an angel dancing on her shoe.” Parent: “When I am talking on the phone with friends she provokes me by running up and down and the only thing that helps to calm her is to hit her.”
0	Absence of mentalization. Child: “I don't know, it just is.” Parent: “He just does it for no reason, he is just like that.”
1	Descriptions in terms of physical or behavioral non-mental characteristics. Child: “She says—go to your room.” Parent: “He just keeps twirling around, he never stops.”
3	Unelaborated references to mental states when describing relationships. Child: “I like it, it is fun.” Parent: “He gets irritable.”
4	References to mental states, but with gaps that have to be filled in. Child: “When I feel sad, she like … comforts me.” Parent: “When we are preparing for an exam and he messes about and I know it is going to take so much longer, I get so angry.”
5	Clear description showing a solid mental state understanding, even if fairly simple. Child: “When she gets angry, she shouts, and I don't like it, but I know she does not really mean what she says and that I am a little bit to blame.” Parent: “I get angry because he loses everything, his gloves, his books, and when we arrived at school and he had forgotten his gloves again and we had to turn back, and I realized I was going to be late for work, I lost it. But I realize that I need to find a way to help him become more responsible and it does not help to shout.”
7–9	Increasingly sophisticated mental state understanding, with 9 denoting exceptional and complete mental state understanding. Child: “When he gets angry, I also get angry at first, but then I feel guilty, because I know he helps me a lot, and when I forget my books at school it takes much longer, and he gets tired and has work to do too.” Parent: “I don't often get angry with him, but sometimes when he becomes very excited and maybe because he wants to show off I think in front of his friends he behaves in a way that he would not usually, becoming defiant, and I feel a little foolish and frustrated. He does not realize that he actually risks losing his friends’ respect and it makes them feel uncomfortable, and I don't know how to explain without hurting his feelings.”