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Measuring Parental Reflective Functioning: Further Validation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire in Portuguese Mothers of Infants and Young Children

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Abstract

This study examines the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Portuguese Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ). The PRFQ is a brief questionnaire of parental reflective functioning that comprises three subscales: pre-mentalizing modes of mental states, certainty about mental states, and interest and curiosity in mental states. Two independent samples were included in the study: a sample composed of 710 mothers of children aged 0 to 36 months (Study 1) and a sample composed of 120 mothers of children aged 1 to 5 years (Study 2). Each sample completed a different set of self-report questionnaires. The original correlated three-factor structure was confirmed through confirmatory factor analyses. The three PRFQ subscales exhibited adequate reliability and correlated in the expected directions with several outcomes (psychopathology symptoms, emotion dysregulation, parent attachment, and parenting styles). The Portuguese PRFQ is a psychometrically robust measure of parental reflective functioning appropriate for research use in Portugal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, 3030-115, Coimbra, Portugal

    Helena Moreira & Ana Fonseca

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  1. Helena Moreira
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  2. Ana Fonseca
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Correspondence to Helena Moreira.

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Moreira, H., Fonseca, A. Measuring Parental Reflective Functioning: Further Validation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire in Portuguese Mothers of Infants and Young Children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 54, 1042–1054 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-021-01288-2

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