How people understand their own minds and those of others has long been of interest to philosophers, psychoanalysts, neuroscientists, and theologians. Drawing on philosophy of mind and object relations and attachment theory, Peter Fonagy and colleagues (1998) coined the term reflective function (RF) to denote an individual's capacity to mentalize (or reflect upon) the thoughts, feelings, intentions, and desires of self and others. This capacity is developed in childhood and is dependent on the quality of interpersonal interactions with caregivers.

Fonagy proposed that RF relates to a range of outcomes, from parenting to relationship functioning to resilience during stressful