Document Type : Original Article
Researcher
phd candidate
Ministerial Ethics Committee
This research sets out to develop, validate, and assess the impact of a training package designed to enhance parental mentalization as a means of reducing destructive shame and fostering emotional awareness in preschool-aged children. The preschool years represent a pivotal period in a child’s emotional and social maturation, with early emotional experiences laying the groundwork for long-term psychological health. Destructive shame, characterized by its deeply unsettling nature, can undermine self-worth and impair social connections, often escalating into more serious emotional disturbances if left unaddressed. On the other hand, emotional awareness—the capacity to identify, interpret, and regulate both personal and others’ emotions—plays a crucial role in emotional resilience and relational harmony. As primary emotional role models, parents significantly influence the emergence of these skills in their children. Enhancing their mentalization abilities—that is, the insight into and responsiveness toward their child’s inner experiences—can thus serve as a vital intervention. The study unfolds in three phases: first, identifying essential components and crafting the training content; second, validating it through expert consultation; and finally, evaluating its effectiveness using a semi-experimental approach with pretest and posttest measures. The outcomes of this work aim to inform preventive and therapeutic practices that support early emotional development and strengthen the parent-child bond