Parental considerations about their childs’ mental health: Validating the German adaptation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire

Abstract

Introduction Parental Reflective Functioning describes the parents’ ability to view their child as motivated by mental states. The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) represents an 18-item and three-factor self-report measure. Our goal was to conduct the first German validation study. Method In a community sample of 378 mothers of children aged 10.2–78.6 months, we used Confirmatory Factor Analysis with a cross-validation approach to assess model fit. Reliability was measured using Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω. Concurrent validity was assessed using correlations with relevant constructs. Results The three-factor structure of the original validation could be confirmed. The German model only needed minor modifications: two items had to be removed, and one error covariance was added. The resulting 16-item questionnaire with the three subscales “Pre-mentalizing”, “Interest and Curiosity about Mental States”, and “Certainty about Mental States” was successfully cross-validated (CFI = .94, TLI = .93, SRMR = .07, RMSEA = .04 (CI [.01, .06])). These factors were related in theoretically expected ways to parental attachment dimensions, emotional availability, parenting stress, and infant attachment status. Conclusion While reliability could still be improved, the German 16-item version of the PRFQ represents a valid measure of parental reflective functioning.