Exploring mentalizing in adolescents with anorexia nervosa and borderline personality disorder: A comparative study of psychiatric inpatients and healthy controls

Abstract

Impaired mentalizing, i.e., difficulties in understanding oneself and others in terms of mental states, has been associated with the development of Anorexia Nervosa (AN), mainly among adults. However, few studies have addressed this question in clinical samples of adolescents with AN. Moreover, no study has explored mentalizing abilities among inpatient adolescents presenting with AN and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), despite their high comorbidity in a highly relevant age group.

Keywords

• anorexia nervosa
• borderline personality disorder
• mentalizing
• theory of mind
• adolescents
• inpatient