Development and validation of the Revised Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ-R)

It has been argued that disruptions to epistemic trust are implicated in psychopathology; however, this requires empirical testing, and an existing scale evaluating epistemic trust, the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ), requires improvement.

This study tested a revised version of the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (the ETMCQ-R), examining the strength of associations between the updated scale and mental health symptoms, epistemic vice, psychological resilience, perceived social support, attachment style, history of childhood adversity and an experimental measure of trust, and epistemic stance as a mediator between adversity and psychopathology.

Using an online survey design, 525 participants completed the ETMCQ-R alongside other measures. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess the structure of the ETMCQ-R and correlational and mediational analyses were used to further assess validity of the measure.

The ETMCQ-R possesses greater model fit and a stronger three-factor structure (Trust, Mistrust and Credulity) compared with the ETMCQ. Significant negative correlations were identified between Trust (r = -0.12) and higher scores on global psychopathology severity, while Mistrust (r = 0.41) and Credulity (r = 0.36) showed positive correlations. Trust negatively correlated with borderline features (r = -0.10), whereas Mistrust and Credulity positively correlated (r = 0.54 and r = 0.48, respectively). Mistrust and credulity partially mediated the relationship between childhood adversity and psychopathology, with stronger mediation effects for borderline features than general psychopathology.

The study demonstrated strong psychometric properties of the ETMCQ-R, and further analyses indicate the three factors are differentially related to wider domains of socio-emotional functioning.