Mentalization and Parenting: Preliminary Validation of the Parent Development Interview-Brief (PDI-B): Optimizing the Assessment of Parental Reflective Functioning

Abstract

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Parental Refective Functioning is considered a critical variable, both for the exercise of parenthood and for child development. For some years now, there has been a need for sufciently sensitive and efective instruments to explore and evaluate Parental Refective Functioning. This preliminary study presents the construction and validation of a short version of the Parent Development Interview-Revised, which we call Parent Development Interview-Brief. The main objective of this abbreviation is to maintain the semi-structured nature of the interview while decreasing the time needed to administer it. A multicenter and cross-sectional study with a normative sample of 60 mothers of children under fve years of age with normotypical development is presented. To analyze the criterion validity of the Parent Development Interview-Brief, participants completed the Cuestionario de Apego Adulto [Adult Attachment Questionnaire] and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The psychometric qualities of the new instrument are discussed, as well as the need for sufciently sensitive, reliable, and efective tools to tap Parental Refective Functioning for use in clinical contexts and research.