Psychometric Evaluation of the Portuguese Reflective Functioning Questionnaire

Abstract

Abstract: Reflective functioning (RF), defined as the capacity to understand one's own and others' mental states, is considered an important dimension of psychological functioning. However, brief self-report measures with adequate psychometric support in different language versions remain limited. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) in a community sample of 595 adults. Participants completed the RFQ-8 and additional self-report measures assessing psychological symptoms and related constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a unidimensional structure using the revised scoring method. Findings suggest that the RFQ-8 primarily captures uncertainty about mental states, reflecting hypomentalizing tendencies and difficulties in emotion regulation, rather than the broader multidimensional construct of reflective functioning originally proposed. Accordingly, the Portuguese RFQ-8 appears useful as a brief self-report measure focused on uncertainty in mentalizing, although further multimethod research is needed to clarify its conceptual scope and construct validity.