The parental reflective functioning questionnaire: Development and preliminary validation

Editorial reading guide · Trust

Can a short parent questionnaire capture the uncertainty involved in understanding a child's mind?

The instrument-development studies clarify the components of parental reflective functioning and the limits of self-report.

Who was studied?

Parents participating in studies of a questionnaire about understanding a child's mental states

Age / stage: Parents of dependent children

Read with three questions

1. Can a short parent questionnaire capture the uncertainty involved in understanding a child's mind?
2. What evidence supports the reliability and validity of the measure for these particular respondents?
3. Which features of the study population (parents participating in studies of a questionnaire about understanding a child's mental states) would matter when applying the findings in another setting?

Keep the limits in view

An early validation of a parent questionnaire establishes how its items performed in the studied samples. It cannot establish a family's attachment classification from a parent's score alone.