Reflective Functioning on the Parent Development Interview: validity and reliability in relation to socio-demographic...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• The Parent Development Interview-Reflective Functioning (PDI-RF) is a key tool for assessing caregiver mentalization.
• Limited data exists on the psychometric properties of the PDI-RF scale.
• Understanding these properties is crucial for accurate assessment of parental mentalization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the PDI-RF scale.
• To examine the scale's distributions, discriminant, and criterion validity.
• To assess the PDI-RF scale's relationship with demographic and socioeconomic factors.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Parent Development Interview (PDI) with 323 mothers of infants and toddlers.
• Coded PDI transcripts for Reflective Functioning (RF).
• Collected and analyzed demographic and socioeconomic data.

Main Results:

• The PDI-RF scale demonstrated high inter-rater reliability and internal consistency.
• Strong criterion validity was observed for the PDI-RF scale.
• Modest associations with sociodemographic variables indicated adequate discriminant validity, with these factors explaining minimal variance.

Conclusions:

• The PDI-RF scale exhibits robust psychometric properties.
• The scale is reliable and valid for assessing caregiver mentalization.
• While generally strong, some considerations for PDI-RF scale application were noted.