Development and validation of a self-report measure assessing failures in the mentalization of trauma and adverse...

The way people process trauma and adverse relationships may be more predictive of subsequent adaptation than trauma exposure in itself. However, there is currently no self-report instrument assessing failures in the mentalization of trauma and adverse relationships.

We developed the Failure to Mentalize Trauma Questionnaire (FMTQ) and evaluated its psychometric properties. The FMTQ is a 29-item self-report instrument designed to assess different indications of failures in the mentalization of trauma and adverse relationships.

A total of 975 participants (84 % women; 37 % exposed to child maltreatment) were recruited in the course of larger research protocols on parenting.

Participants completed the FMTQ and measures of childhood maltreatment, psychopathology (post-traumatic stress symptoms, dissociative symptoms, level of personality dysfunction), general mentalization and intimate partner violence.

Exploratory factor analysis, supported by a confirmatory factor analysis, identified seven factors with good internal consistency that corresponded to different types of failures in the mentalization of trauma and adverse relationships and that loaded on a general factor. A dose-effect association was observed between the severity of childhood maltreatment, and the severity of failures in the mentalization of trauma and adverse relationships (r_s = .49, p < .01). The FMTQ total score explained a significant proportion of variance in psychopathology and intimate partner violence, both in participants with histories of childhood maltreatment and participants without childhood maltreatment.

The FMTQ is a promising, concise and efficient measure of failures in the mentalization of trauma and adverse relationships that may facilitate clinical screening and research with adults who experienced trauma.