The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire: Adaptation for the Russian-Speaking Sample

465

Abstract

Since parental reflective functioning is important for the upbringing and development of children, it attracts the attention of psychologists around the world and needs to be studied. To measure it, the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) is worked out, which is adapted and widely used in different countries, its psychometric properties were tested and interesting results were obtained. However, this questionnaire has not been adapted in Russia yet. That is why this research is aimed at adapting PRFQ for Russian-speaking sample, to testing its factor structure and psychometric properties. Data was collected from an online survey (2022-2023). The forms were filled out by 205 parents (38% of fathers) of children aged from 1 to 13 years. For all respondents, the survey included a socio-demographic questions and the PRFQ; 99 parents additionally completed the Questionnaire of Emotional Relations in Family (E. Zakharova), the Parental Attitude Questionnaire (A. Varga & V. Stolin) and the Parental Anxiety Scale (A. Prikhozhan). Factor analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of the PRFQ. Confirmatory factor analysis showed good correspondence with the data. The internal consistency of the PRFQ scales and emotional attitude towards the child, parental attitude and parental anxiety confirm the external validity of the questionnaire. The Parental Reflexive Functioning Questionnaire is a reliable, internally consistent and valid tool. Keywords. Parent Reflective Functioning, PRF, Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, PRFQ, parental attitude.

General Information

Keywords: Parent Reflective Functioning; PRF; Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire; PRFQ; parental attitude

Journal rubric: Social Psychology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2023120312

Funding. The reported study was funded by Russian Science Foundation (RSCF), project number 22-28-00820 “Psychological resources of socially vulnerable groups in the face of modern challenges (on the example of people with disabilities and their families)”.

Received: 11.04.2023

Accepted:

For citation: Kamskaya O.A., Odintsova M.A., Radchikova N.P., Gurova E.V. The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire: Adaptation for the Russian-Speaking Sample [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2023. Vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 126–136. DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2023120312. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Varga A.Ya. Test-oprosnik roditel'skogo otnosheniya [Test questionnaire of parental attitude]. In Varga A.Ya., Stolin V.V. (eds.), Praktikum po psikhodiagnostike. Psikhodiagnosticheskie materialy [Workshop on psychodiagnostics. Psychodiagnostic materials]. Moscow: Publ. MGU, 1988. 128 p. (In Russ.).
  2. Zakharova E.I. Diagnostika emotsional'nykh otnoshenii v sem'e [Diagnosis of emotional relationships in the family] [Elektronnyi resurs]. In Fetiskin N.P., Kozlov V.V. Trudnye deti [Difficult kids]. Moscow: Institut konsul'tirovaniya i sistemnykh reshenii, 2018, pp. 455—459. URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=35111733&ysclid=lm4wml8tc150625801 (Accessed 04.09.2023) (In Russ.).
  3. Prikhozhan A.M. Psikhologiya trevozhnosti: doshkol'nyi i shkol'nyi vozrast [Psychology of anxiety: preschool and school age]. Saint-Petersburg: Piter, 2009. 120 p. (In Russ.).
  4. De Roo M., Wong G., Rempel G.R., Fraser S.N. Advancing optimal development in children: examining the construct validity of a parent reflective functioning questionnaire. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 2019. Vol. 2, no. 1, article ID e11561. 12 p. DOI:10.2196/11561
  5. Esbjørn B.H., Pedersen S.H., Daniel S.I., Hald H.H., Holm J.M., Steele H. Anxiety levels in clinically referred children and their parents: examining the unique influence of self-reported attachment styles and interview-based reflective functioning in mothers and fathers. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2013. Vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 394—407. DOI:10.1111/bjc.12024
  6. Camoirano A. Mentalizing makes parenting work: a review about parental reflective functioning and clinical interventions to improve it. Frontiers in Psychology, 2017. Vol. 8, article ID 14, 12 p. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00014
  7. Anis L., Perez G., Benzies K.M., Ewashen C., Hart M., Letourneau N. Convergent validity of three measures of reflective function: parent development interview, parental reflective function questionnaire, and reflective function questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 2020. Vol. 11, article ID 574719. 14 p. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.574719
  8. Ensink K., Borelli J.L., Roy J., Normandin L., Slade A., Fonagy P. Costs of Not Getting to Know You: Lower Levels of Parental Reflective Functioning Confer Risk for Maternal Insensitivity and Insecure Infant Attachment. Infancy, 2019. Vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 210—227. DOI:10.1111/infa.12263
  9. Lindblom J., Pajulo M., Nolvi S., Tervahartiala K., Karlsson H., Karlsson L., Korja R. Early pathways of maternal mentalization: Associations with child development in the FinnBrain birth cohort study. Frontiers in Psychology, 2022. Vol. 13, article ID 855190. 20 p. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.855190
  10. Pajulo M., Tolvanen M., Pyykkönen N., Karlsson L., Mayes L., Karlsson H. Exploring parental mentalization in postnatal phase with a self-report questionnaire (PRFQ): Factor structure, gender differences and association with sociodemographic factors. The Finn Brain Birth Cohort Study. Psychiatry Research, 2018. Vol. 262, pp. 431—439. DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.09.020
  11. Fonagy P, Gergely G, Target M. The parent-infant dyad and the construction of the subjective self. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2007. Vol 48, no. 3—4, pp. 288—328. DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01727.x
  12. Fonagy P., Campbell C., Luyten P. Attachment, Mentalizing and Trauma: Then (1992) and Now (2022). Brain Sciences, 2023. Vol. 13, no. 3, article ID 459. 20 p. DOI:10.3390/brainsci13030459
  13. Fonagy P., Steele H., Steele M. Maternal representations of attachment during pregnancy predict the organization of infant-mother attachment at one year of age. Child Development, 1991. Vol. 62, no. 5, pp. 891—905. DOI:10.2307/1131141
  14. Gordo L., Elejalde L., Martínez-Pampliega A. Versión Española del Cuestionario de Función Reflexiva Parental (CFRP-18). Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación — e Avaliação. Psicológica, 2020. Vol. 2, no. 55, pp. 5—17. DOI:10.21865/RIDEP55.2.01
  15. Grienenberger J.F., Kelly K., Slade A. Maternal reflective functioning, mother—infant affective communication, and infant attachment: exploring the link between mental states and observed caregiving behavior in the intergenerational transmission of attachment. Attachment & Human Development, 2005. Vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 299—311. DOI:10.1080/14616730500245963
  16. Slade A., Holland M.L., Ordway M.R., Carlson E.A., Jeon S., Close N., Mayes L.C., Sadler L.S. Minding the Baby: Enhancing parental reflective functioning and infant attachment in an attachment-based, interdisciplinary home visiting program. Development and psychopathology, 2020. Vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 123—137. DOI:10.1017/S0954579418001463
  17. Moreira H., Fonseca A. Measuring Parental Refective Functioning: Further Validation of the Parental Refective Functioning Questionnaire in Portuguese Mothers of Infants and Young Children. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 2022. Vol. 54, pp. 1042—1054. DOI:10.1007/s10578-021-01288-2
  18. Luyten P., Nijssens L., Fonagy P., Mayes L.C. Parental reflective functioning: theory, research, and clinical applications. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 2017. Vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 174—199. DOI:10.1080/00797308.2016.1277901
  19. Cooke D., Priddis L., Luyten P., Kendall G., Cavanagh R. Paternal and maternal reflective functioning in the Western Australian Peel child health study. Infant Mental Health Journal, 2017. Vol. 38. № 5. P. 561—574. DOI:10.1002/imhj.21664
  20. Berthelot N., Lemieux R., Garon-Bissonnette J., Muzik M. Prenatal Attachment, Parental Confidence, and Mental Health in Expecting Parents: The Role of Childhood Trauma. Journal of midwifery and women's health, 2020. Vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 85—95. DOI:10.1111/jmwh.13034
  21. Ye P., Ju J., Zheng K., Dang J., Bian Y. Psychometric Evaluation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire in Chinese Parents. Frontiers in Psychology, 2022. Vol. 13, article ID 74518. 9 p. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.745184
  22. Rosen J. Parental Reaction to a Diagnosis of Autism: How Resolution Relates to Parental Reflective Functioning and Parenting Stress [Elektronnyi resurs]. ETD Collection for Pace University, 2013. Article ID AAI3570196. URL: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI3570196/ (Accessed 04.09.2023).
  23. Rostad W., Whitaker D. The association between reflective functioning and parent-child relationship quality. Journal of Child Family Studies, 2016. Vol. 25, pp. 2164—2177. DOI:10.1007/s10826-016-0388-7
  24. Sadler L.S., Novick G., Meadows-Oliver M. Having a Baby Changes Everything Reflective Functioning in Pregnant Adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 2016. Vol. 31, no. 3, pp. e219—e231. DOI:10.1016/j.pedn.2015.11.011
  25. Slade A. Parental reflective functioning: an introduction. Attachment & Human Development, 2005. Vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 269—281. DOI:10.1080/14616730500245906
  26. Stacks A.M., Barron C.C., Wong K. Infant mental health home visiting in the context of an infant-toddler court team: Changes in parental responsiveness and reflective functioning. Infant mental health journal, 2019. Vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 523—540. DOI:10.1002/imhj.21785
  27. Pazzagli C., Delvecchio E., Raspa V., Mazzeschi C., Luyten P. The parental reflective functioning questionnaire in mothers and fathers of school-aged children. Journal of Child Family Studies, 2018. Vol. 27, pp. 80—90. DOI:10.1007/ s10826-017-0856-8
  28. Luyten P., Mayes L.C., Nijssens L., Fonagy P. The parental reflective functioning questionnaire: development and preliminary validation. PLoS One, 2017. Vol. 12, no. 5, article ID e0176218. 28 p. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0176218

Information About the Authors

Olga A. Kamskaya, Master of Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2496-9530, e-mail: kamskayaoa@gmail.com

Maria A. Odintsova, PhD in Psychology, Docent, Head of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of Distance Learning, Faculty of Distance Learning, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3106-4616, e-mail: mari505@mail.ru

Nataly P. Radchikova, PhD in Psychology, Leading Researcher of Scientific and Practical Center for Comprehensive Support of Psychological Research «PsyDATA», Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Chief Specialist of the Laboratory of Biophysics of Excitable Media, Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino;, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5139-8288, e-mail: nataly.radchikova@gmail.com

Elena V. Gurova, PhD in Education, Assistant Professor, Professor Chair of Psychology and Pedagogy of Distance Learning, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5047-4197, e-mail: parys11@mail.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 551
Previous month: 34
Current month: 17

Downloads

Total: 465
Previous month: 35
Current month: 11