Epistemic trust in adolescents
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring how trauma, symptomatology and expectations of helping relationships are related to epistemic trust in adolescents.
IRAS ID
200532
Contact name
Peter Fonagy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
UCL data protection number, Z6364106/2016/04/16
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Epistemic Trust (ET) is an individual’s willingness to consider new knowledge as trustworthy and relevant, and therefore worth integrating into their lives. In contrast, epistemic mistrust is characterised by inflexible thinking patterns and a difficulty to learn from the social environment. This research aims to explore factors that affect ET, such as trauma and symptomatology, and investigate how ET effects expectations of helping relationships.
Attachment and mentalisation have been linked to ET. Research suggests that children with secure attachments adopt more flexible thinking styles, which facilitates the development of ET. Furthermore, when the child’s experiences are being mirrored by a trusted other, the child develops a capacity to mentalise.
The capacity to mentalise and attachment security is undermined in people who have experienced trauma. People who have experienced trauma are also less likely to trust others and have impaired rates of learning. This study aims to explore whether trauma and early adversity is also the aetiological factor that underlies ET in adolescents.
Developmental psychopathology has also been linked to an adolescent’s ability to mentalise and attachment security. Research suggests that the psychopathology seen in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) may be due to problems with attachment and ET. This study aims to investigate whether individuals with BPD are in a state of epistemic mistrust.
Epistemic mistrust also has important implications on people's capacity to engage and their expectations of helping relationships. This in turn is likely to have implications for a wide range of helping relationships including those found in social, educational and therapeutic environments, and impacting the extent that such relationships can facilitate change. This study aims to investigate whether levels of ET is also linked with adolescents’ expectations of helping relationship.REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1650
Date of REC Opinion
5 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion