Caregiver mentalizing abilities and mental well-being are positively associated with interactive skills, with mentalizing sensitive to estimation method¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 Mentalizing abilities (r = .17) and mental well-being (r = .08) showed small significant positive associations with interactive skills, but the mentalizing association became non-significant under robust variance estimation. → Støve 2026

Evidence¶

Støve 2026¶

Støve, L. L., Dalgaard, N. T., Mohr, J. W., Hansen, J. E., Wendelboe, K. I., Hestbaek, E., Vieira, C. C., Væver, M. S., & Smith-Nielsen, J. (2026). Individual and Structural Factors Associated with Interactive Skills of Child-Care Professionals in Early Childhood Education and Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10162-3

q3 · i1 · quant-synthesis · r3

Three-level meta-analyses: mentalizing (k = 4, N = 301, r = .166, p = .013) and mental well-being (k = 7, N = 1253, r = .084, p = .001). Under RVE, "the association between mentalizing abilities and interactive skills became non-significant, whereas the link with mental well-being remained significant."

"The meta-analyses revealed significant but small, positive correlations between child-care professionals' mentalizing abilities, i.e., the ability to understand and interpret children's emotions, intentions, and perspectives (Fonagy & Allison, 2012), mental well-being and caregiver interactive skills (see Table 5)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The ratio–interactive-skills association may be partly or entirely attributable to small-study publication bias — related
• Higher caregiver salary is associated with higher interactive skills, though causality cannot be determined — related