Enhancing classroom emotional support: the positive impact of improved mentalizing abilities in early childhood teachers following a group-based intervention

Teachers' mentalization may be particularly important for fostering positive classroom environments that support children's cognitive and social-emotional development. To date, no studies have directly examined whether enhancing teachers' mentalizing abilities leads to improvements in classroom climate. This study evaluated the impact of DUET, a mentalization-based group intervention for early childhood teachers and examined whether improvements in teachers' mentalizing abilities were related to enhanced classroom Emotional Support, a key component of classroom climate. Eighty-six early childhood teachers participated in the intervention. Teachers' mentalizing abilities and classroom Emotional Support were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. Following the intervention, significant improvements were observed in both teachers' mentalizing abilities and classroom climate. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that changes in teachers' mentalizing abilities significantly predicted improvements in classroom climate. These findings suggest that targeting teachers' mentalization capacities may be a promising approach for creating more supportive early childhood learning environments.