12 research outputs found
Development and validation of a self-report measure of mentalizing: The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire
Reflective functioning or mentalizing is the capacity to interpret both the self and others in
terms of internal mental states such as feelings, wishes, goals, desires, and attitudes. This
paper is part of a series of papers outlining the development and psychometric features of a
new self-report measure, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ), designed to provide
an easy to administer self-report measure of mentalizing. We describe the development
and initial validation of the RFQ in three studies. Study 1 focuses on the development
of the RFQ, its factor structure and construct validity in a sample of patients with Borderline
Personality Disorder (BPD) and Eating Disorder (ED) (n = 108) and normal controls (n =
295). Study 2 aims to replicate these findings in a fresh sample of 129 patients with personality
disorder and 281 normal controls. Study 3 addresses the relationship between the
RFQ, parental reflective functioning and infant attachment status as assessed with the
Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) in a sample of 136 community mothers and their infants.
In both Study 1 and 2, confirmatory factor analyses yielded two factors assessing Certainty
(RFQ_C) and Uncertainty (RFQ_U) about the mental states of self and others. These two
factors were relatively distinct, invariant across clinical and non-clinical samples, had satisfactory
internal consistency and test–retest stability, and were largely unrelated to demographic
features. The scales discriminated between patients and controls, and were
significantly and in theoretically predicted ways correlated with measures of empathy, mindfulness
and perspective-taking, and with both self-reported and clinician-reported measures
of borderline personality features and other indices of maladaptive personality functioning.
Furthermore, the RFQ scales were associated with levels of parental reflective functioning,
which in turn predicted infant attachment status in the SSP. Overall, this study lends preliminary
support for the RFQ as a screening measure of reflective functioning. Further research
is needed, however, to investigate in more detail the psychometric qualities of the RFQ.status: publishe
Relationship between the RFQ subscales and clinical features in the clinical sample.
<p>Relationship between the RFQ subscales and clinical features in the clinical sample.</p
Multi-group CFA with factor loadings in the clinical (left) and the non-clinical (right) sample, respectively.
<p>Residuals and correlations between residuals are omitted for clarity of presentation. Rectangles indicate measured variables and circles represent latent constructs. Standardized maximum likelihood parameters are used. Bold estimates are statistically significant at <i>p</i><0.05 (two-tailed).</p
Relationships between the RFQ subscales and related constructs.
<p>Relationships between the RFQ subscales and related constructs.</p
Means and standard deviations for the RFQ subscales.
<p>Means and standard deviations for the RFQ subscales.</p
Final model for the relationships between the RFQ, PRFQ, and infant attachment status as assessed in the SSP.
<p>Rectangles indicate measured variables and the small circles reflect residuals (e). Bidirectional arrow depicts covariance and unidirectional arrows depict hypothesized directional links. *<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01, ***<i>p</i><0.001.</p
Group differences between the clinical and non-clinical samples.
<p>Group differences between the clinical and non-clinical samples.</p