[The German Version of the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ): A Psychometric Evaluation in the General...

The concept of mentalization has attracted broad clinical and scientific interest, particularly because of its high clinical and therapeutic relevance. To make this concept accessible for empirical research, the 8-item Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) was developed, which comprises 2 subscales tapping into uncertainty about mental states (or hypomentalizing), and certainty about mental states (i. e. hypermentalizing). Although first psychometric examinations have evaluated the RFQ-8 positively, these findings must be interpreted with caution for methodological reasons. The aim of this study was the psychometric evaluation of the German version of the RFQ-8 in a large general population sample (n=2477). Various confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses indicated that the originally introduced 2-factor solution is mis-specified. Instead, the RFQ-8 seems to cover a unidimensional construct. Having excluded 2 items due to their insufficient psychometric qualities, the 6-item measure (RFQ-6) showed high internal consistency (McDonald's ω=0,88) as well as significant rank correlations with depression, anxiety and bodily complaints. Considering the psychometric limitations of the RFQ-8, its use in clinical routine and research should be viewed very critically, particularly with respect to its ability to assess hypermentalizing.