Introduction Mentalization or reflective functioning (RF) is the capacity to interpret oneself or the others in terms of internal mental states. Its failures have been linked to several mental disorders and interventions improving RF have a therapeutic effect. Mentalizing capacity of the parents influences the children’s attachment. The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) is a widely used tool for the assessment of RF. No instrument is available to assess general RF in Spanish-speaking samples. The aim of this study is to develop a Spanish version of the RFQ-8 and to evaluate its reliability and validity in the general population and in individuals with personality disorders. Methods 602 non-clinical and 41 personality disordered participants completed a Spanish translation of the RFQ and a battery of self-reported questionnaires assessing several RF related constructs (alexithymia, perspective taking, identity diffusion and mindfulness), psychopathology (general and specific) and interpersonal problems. Temporal stability was tested in a non-clinical sub-sample of 113 participants. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested a one-factor structure in the Spanish version of the RFQ-8. RFQ-8 understood as a single scale was tested, with low scorings reflecting genuine mentalizing, and high scorings uncertainty. The questionnaire showed good internal consistence in both samples and moderate temporal stability in non-clinical sample. RFQ correlated significantly with identity diffusion, alexithymia, and general psychopathology in both samples; and with mindfulness, perspective taking, and interpersonal problems in clinical sample. Mean values of the scale were significantly higher in the clinical group. Discussion This study provides evidence that the Spanish version of the RFQ-8, understood as a single scale, has an adequate reliability and validity assessing failures in reflective functioning (i.e., hypomentalization) in general population and personality disorders.

This report describes a study focused on the relationship between CGG repeat length, FMRP, mRNA levels and cognitive functioning in premutation carriers (PM) carriers of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). We studied 60 females-43 with PM and 17 with normal (N) alleles-from 25 FXS Spanish families. The Wechsler scales were administered to all subjects and new blood samples and hair roots were taken to study mRNA and FMRP levels. Using lowess curves together with segmented models we showed that within the premutation range, IQ scores tend to decrease when the number of CGG repeats increases and the FMRP values decrease. Furthermore, we discovered cut-off points in the molecular variables that seem to change the probability of having some cognitive impairment. Specifically, for those PM females in the upper premutation range (CGG > or = 100) and with FMRP expression < 60% in hair roots, a 10% decrement of FMRP expression represents a significant decrease in IQ scores of about six points, which is more evident for Full-Scale IQ (P-value = 0.035) and Performance IQ (P-value = 0.045) than for Verbal IQ (P-value = 0.074). On the contrary, we did not find any significant correlation between FMR1 mRNA levels and the IQ scores, probably due to the fact that mRNA levels were measured in blood. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the PM can have some effect on cognitive ability in female carriers, although these effects may be subtle. In these cases, it would be advisable to carry out a hair root analysis of FMRP.