A Critical Evaluation of the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ)
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Abstract
The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ) is an 8-item self-report measure of reflective functioning that is presumed to capture individual differences in hypo- and hypermentalizing. Despite its broad acceptance by the field, we argue that the validity of the measure is not well-established. The current research elaborates on problems of the RFQ related to its item content, scoring procedure, dimensionality, and associations with psychopathology. We tested these considerations across three large clinical and non-clinical samples from Germany and the US (total N = 2289). In a first study, we found that the RFQ may assess a single latent dimension related to hypomentalizing but is rather unlikely to capture maladaptive forms of hypermentalizing. Moreover, the RFQ exhibited very strong associations with measures of personality pathology, while associations with measures of symptom distress were less strong. In a second preregistered study focused on convergent and discriminant validity, however, a commonality analysis indicated that associations with indicators of personality pathology are inflated because some of the RFQ items tap into emotional lability and impulsivity rather than mentalizing. Our findings demonstrate limitations of the RFQ. We discuss key challenges in assessing mentalizing via self-report.
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The validity of self-report measures to assess parenting representations such as parental reflective functioning and caregiving helplessness has been questioned.
“The validity of self-report measures to assess parenting representations such as parental reflective functioning and caregiving helplessness has been questioned [17, 64, 65]”
From Optimizing parenting and child outcomes following parent–child interaction therapy – toddler: a randomized controlled trial (2024) · cites this paper as [65]
The Abstract and General Discussion question the validity of the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, a self-report measure of reflective functioning. But the paper addresses mentalizing generally, not self-report measures of parenting representations specifically; it does not establish validity concerns about parental reflective functioning or caregiving helplessness measures. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Müller, S., Wendt, L. P., Spitzer, C., Masuhr, O., Back, S. N., & Zimmermann, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Kassel (DE)
- Universitätsmedizin Rostock (DE)
- Asklepios Fachklinikum Tiefenbrunn (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Müller, Sascha
- Wendt, Leon P.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality Assessment
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-10-01
- Volume
- 104
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 613-627
- ISSN
- 0022-3891 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7752
- OpenAlex
- W3161900958
- Cited by
- 138
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 12.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Personality Assessment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Universität Heidelberg
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- reflective functioning, mentalization, personality pathology, psychopathology, emotional lability, impulsivity, convergent and discriminant validity, self-report measures, latent dimensionality
- MeSH terms
- Mentalization, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Personality Disorders, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Report
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