Psychometric properties of the prenatal-parental reflective functioning questionnaire in Iranian mothers and fathers

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is the capacity to focus on experiences and feelings in one self as a parent and in the children, and treat the children as psychological agents. This paper reports psychometric properties of the Iranian/ Persian version of P-PRFQ which is a brief, multidimensional, self-report measure of parental reflective functioning during pregnancy. Participants were 282 mothers and 209 fathers who completed a Persian-translation of P-PRFQ questionnaire, a measure to assess socio-demographic characteristics, and parental-fetal attachment questionnaire. Factor structure, internal consistency, and associations between P-PRFQ and parental-fetal attachment are investigated. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model consisting of F1: “Opacity of mental states,” F2: “Reflecting on the fetus-child,” and F3: “The dynamic nature of the mental states” among Iranian sample. However, CFA identified three items with low factor loadings. Additionally, Factor 1 was not correlated with two other factors in the Iranian context. Additional validity evidence included positive associations between Factor 2 and parent-fetus attachment; and positive associations between Factor 3 and parent-fetus attachment. Factor 1 was negatively associated with parent-fetus attachment. These findings suggest that Factor 1 may be interpreted differently within different sociocultural contexts, and calls for further examination of possible sociocultural influences on the interpretation of Factor 1. Differences between mothers and fathers on P-PRFQ among Iranian parents are discussed.