Adolescence is a critical period of rapid biological and social development and early signs of adult mental disorders emerge during this life stage. Previous studies suggest that mentalizing failures, specifically difficulties in reflective functioning (RF) are linked with psychological symptoms. However, relatively little is known about the association between RF and psychological adaptation in typical development. In this study, the relationship between RF, internalizing and externalizing symptoms were investigated in 95 adolescents using the revised Reflective Functioning Scale–Adolescent version. Results indicate that RF is associated with more self-reported internalizing symptoms. Moreover, the relationship between RF and externalizing symptoms are accounted for by the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in typically developing adolescents. The implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future studies are presented.

中文翻译：

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反思功能和青少年心理适应：反思功能量表 - 青少年版的有效性。

青春期是生物和社会快速发展的关键时期，在这个生命阶段出现成人精神障碍的早期迹象。以前的研究表明，心智化失败，特别是反思功能 (RF) 的困难与心理症状有关。然而，对于典型发展中 RF 与心理适应之间的关联知之甚少。在这项研究中，使用修订后的反射功能量表 - 青少年版本在 95 名青少年中调查了 RF、内化和外化症状之间的关系。结果表明 RF 与更多自我报告的内化症状相关。而且，RF 和外化症状之间的关系是由内化和外化症状在典型发育的青少年中同时发生来解释的。讨论了这些发现的影响，并提出了对未来研究的建议。