[The German Version of the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ): A Psychometric Evaluation in the General Population].

The concept of mentalization has attracted broad clinical and scientific interest, particularly because of its high clinical and therapeutic relevance. To make this concept accessible for empirical research, the 8-item Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) was developed, which comprises 2 subscales tapping into uncertainty about mental states (or hypomentalizing), and certainty about mental states (i. e. hypermentalizing). Although first psychometric examinations have evaluated the RFQ-8 positively, these findings must be interpreted with caution for methodological reasons. The aim of this study was the psychometric evaluation of the German version of the RFQ-8 in a large general population sample (n=2477). Various confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses indicated that the originally introduced 2-factor solution is mis-specified. Instead, the RFQ-8 seems to cover a unidimensional construct. Having excluded 2 items due to their insufficient psychometric qualities, the 6-item measure (RFQ-6) showed high internal consistency (McDonald's ω=0,88) as well as significant rank correlations with depression, anxiety and bodily complaints. Considering the psychometric limitations of the RFQ-8, its use in clinical routine and research should be viewed very critically, particularly with respect to its ability to assess hypermentalizing.