Psychometric Evaluation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire in Chinese Parents

Abstract

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is important for parenting and child development. To effectively assess PRF in Chinese parents, this study aimed to revise the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) for the Chinese context. The original Chinese version of the PRFQ (PRFQ-C) was revised by following psychometric validation procedures in a sample of Chinese parents (N = 2,021, 1,034 mothers and 987 fathers). A series of psychometric analyses, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal consistency reliability analysis, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity analysis, and analysis for measurement invariance between mothers and fathers, were conducted. The CFA results indicated that the final 12-item, three-factor model had a good fit {χ2(49) = 472.381; CFI = 0.929; TLI = 0.904; RMSEA = 0.065, 90%CI = [0.060, 0.071]}. The Chinese version of the PRFQ with 12 items (PRFQ-12C) showed satisfactory reliability (omega = 0.68–0.82), discriminant validity [heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) values < 0.85], and criterion-related validity. The PRFQ-12C also had measurement invariance across mothers and fathers. In conclusion, the PRFQ-12C is psychometrically sound and can be applied in China.

Examining a Complex Model Linking Maternal Reflective Functioning, Maternal Meta-Emotion Philosophies, and Child Emotion Regulation

“…Conversely, pre-mentalizing modes were both directly and indirectly associated with the children's ER, suggesting that the parents' inability to grasp their children's mental states may affect both maternal MEPs and the children's emotional adjustment. This result was consistent with the findings of other studies, indicating that pre-mentalizing modes were associated with the mothers' less tolerance of stress [9,77] and reduced sensitivity and warmth [33,53]. Mothers with higher levels of pre-mentalizing modes may react to their child's behaviors in a more impulsive and dismissing way.…”

“…The Chinese version of the PRFQ has previously demonstrated good psychometric properties and construct validity (CFI = 0.929; TLI = 0.904; RMSEA = 0.065) [53]. In this study, Cronbach's α = 0.0.…”

“…As an extension to existing studies mostly conducted in Western cultures, we examined these associations in a sample of mothers from mainland China. Compared to Western cultures, in China, parental authority, control, and harsh discipline are more strongly emphasized [52,53]. Chinese parents also tend to have higher expectations for their children, especially in terms of academic success [54], which may put pressure on both parents and children [55,56] and increase the difficulty of understanding their children's mental states [57][58][59].…”

The Type of Childcare for Working Mothers in Indonesia

“…Parenting is a process of total interaction between parents and children (Alsheikh et al, 2010;Merlina, 2010), and is a major component in stimulating children's growth and development as well as a means of strengthening relationships and interactions between parents and children (Amalia et al, 2022;Retnaningsih & Setiyawati, 2019;Ye et al, 2022). In parenting, there are various activities such as maintenance, feeding, cleaning, protecting, and the process of socializing children with the surrounding environment (Dey et al, 2021;Zimmermann et al, 2022).…”

Parental Reflective Functioning in First-Time Parents and Associations with Infant Socioemotional Development

“…If MI does hold, (mean) scores between mothers and fathers can be meaningfully compared, as they represent the same underlying PRF construct (Van de Schoot et al, 2012). With regard to the PRFQ, a number of studies have examined MI between mothers and fathers (e.g., De Roo et al, 2019;Pazzagli et al, 2018;Ye et al, 2022), with the results from these studies generally supporting the existence of MI between mothers and fathers. However, MI has not yet been examined with the PRFQ-I.…”