The Maternal (Non) Responsiveness Questionnaire: Initial Factor Structure and Validation

The purpose of this paper was to examine the reliability, stability, and convergent and predictive validity of the newly developed Maternal Responsiveness Questionnaire (MRQ). Participants were 224 first-time mothers. Mothers completed the MRQ when their infants were 6 and 14 months old. Convergent validity was examined in relation to mother-reported personality, depressive symptoms, and emotion socialization practices and observed maternal sensitivity. Predictive validity was examined in relation to mother-reported child behavior problems and social competence, infant attachment security assessed via the Strange Situation, and observed child dysregulation. Three MRQ factors emerged based on exploratory factor analysis and were confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis: responsiveness, non-responsiveness and delayed responsiveness. All three scales demonstrated good internal consistency reliability and significant stability from 6 months to 14 months. Consistent evidence emerged for convergent and predictive validity of the non-responsiveness subscale, but not the other subscales. The potential utility of the non-responsiveness subscale of the MRQ is discussed.