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Parental Reflective Functioning (PRF) refers to parents’ capacity to view their child’s and their own behavior considering inner mental states, like thoughts, desires, and intentions. This study’s objective was to examine whether PRF acted as a moderator for the relationships between maternal depression and child internalizing and externalizing problems. The sample was comprised of 685 Iranian mothers with preschoolers (3 to 5 years old) and school-aged (6–10 years old) children. To assess PRF, the PRF questionnaire was used. Child internalizing and externalizing difficulties were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist, and maternal depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory- second version. Results indicated significant relationships between maternal depression and PRF (specifically pre-mentalizing and certainty in mental states). Also, mothers of school-aged children showed significantly higher levels of pre-mentalizing than mothers of preschoolers. Furthermore, certainty about mental states moderated the relationship between maternal depression and child externalizing behaviors in school-aged children. However, no moderating effect was found for pre-mentalizing or interest and curiosity in mental states in any age group.

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This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) in mothers, a brief self-report measure that assesses parental mentalization capacity. To examine the factor structure and construct validity of the PRFQ, 430 mothers of 3–6-year-old children completed the Persian version of the PRFQ (Persian-PRFQ) along with the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the three-factor structure of the PRFQ. Convergent validity was confirmed for the three subscales of the PRFQ, while divergent validity was only confirmed for the PM and IC. Furthermore, the mean score of the certainty of mental states (CMS) in this sample was higher than in other studies, and contrary to the theoretical foundations, the CMS was positively related to interest and curiosity in mental states (IC). In conclusion, our results provided initial evidence for the use of the Persian-PRFQ in the Iranian population.

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