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Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ)

Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) Test

Learn how well you tune into your own feelings and your child’s emotions in about 3 minutes. With 16 quick items, it supports warmer communication, less conflict, and healthier emotional growth.

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Questions: 163 minutes

Hi! My name is Freudly, i am an AI therapist, I will give you an interpretation of the test after you complete it.

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

13,733 views

1,646 completions

1,423 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

3/7

Pre-Mentalizing (PM)

Measures the degree to which a parent struggles to understand a child’s inner experiences and may misattribute negative or hostile intentions to the child.

Low

Moderate

High

1 – 2: Low | 3 – 5: Moderate | 6 – 7: High

A score of 3 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting occasional difficulty making sense of the child’s feelings and motives, with some risk of misreading intentions in challenging moments.

example score

5/7

Certainty (C)

Measures how certain a parent feels that their interpretations of the child’s inner thoughts and feelings are accurate while still allowing for some uncertainty.

Low confidence

Moderate confidence

High confidence

1 – 3: Low confidence | 4 – 5: Moderate confidence | 6 – 7: High confidence

A score of 5 suggests moderate confidence, indicating you generally trust your reading of your child’s mental state while still leaving room for doubt and curiosity.

example score

4/7

Interest and Curiosity (IaC)

Measures how genuinely a parent is interested in and curious about the thoughts and feelings that may underlie their child’s behavior.

Low curiosity

Moderate curiosity

High curiosity

1 – 2: Low curiosity | 3 – 5: Moderate curiosity | 6 – 7: High curiosity

A score of 4 suggests a moderate level of curiosity, with some active interest in the child’s inner experience while there may still be room to explore it more consistently.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Curious, growth-minded parents

41%OF USERS

Parents who want quick insight into how well they understand their child’s feelings and their own reactions to everyday situations.

Parents in a tough phase

34%OF USERS

Caregivers dealing with frequent tantrums, conflict, anxiety, or big transitions who want clues about what might be driving the child’s behavior.

Clinicians and researchers

25%OF USERS

Professionals who use a brief measure to screen parent–child emotional attunement and inform support or study outcomes.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

RESULTS YOU CAN ACTUALLY USE

Scale Results
— Explained Clearly

Your scores across each test scale are translated into plain, usable insights. You won’t just get numbers — you’ll learn how your results impact your daily life, emotional state, and overall well-being.

AI-Powered
Interpretation

You’ll receive a structured, clinically-grounded explanation. Our AI analyzes patterns and relationships between scales to provide a coherent interpretation, without exaggerated language.

Statistical
Comparison

See how your results compare to others. Anonymized platform data is used to create a percentile scale, which identifies whether your results are typical.

Practical
Recommendations

You’ll receive clear, actionable guidance tailored to your profile. These easy-to-implement suggestions focus on coping, self-regulation, and realistic next steps.

AI-Powered
Insights

Get insights on behavioral and thought patterns you might not notice on your own. By uncovering subtle connections between your responses, you’ll better understand what may be driving your current results.

Discuss with
an AI Therapist

Clarify, reflect, and explore your results right away. Talk through your experience, ask questions, and explore meanings in a calm, non-diagnostic dialogue.

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Used in 52+ countries

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Prereflection (P)

Average

3.4

Normal range

2.6 — 4.2

min.

max.

Majority

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Confidence (C)

Average

3.8

Normal range

2.7 — 4.9

min.

max.

Majority

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Interest and Curiosity (IaC)

Average

5.1

Normal range

4.2 — 6.1

min.

max.

Majority

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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CLEAR ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this questionnaire measure?

It measures how well an adult can reflect on personal thoughts and feelings and consider a child’s emotions and motives. It focuses on how meaning is made from the child’s behavior.

Who should complete it?

It is intended for adults who have a parenting role with a child. It may also be used in clinical or research settings involving caregivers.

How long does it take and how many items are included?

Completion typically takes about 3 minutes. It includes 16 items.

How should items be answered?

Select the response that best matches typical thoughts and reactions, not a single unusual event. Answer all items and avoid spending too much time on any one item.

How should results be used?

Results describe patterns of reflection and attunement, not a diagnosis. They can help guide discussion, identify areas for support, and inform intervention planning.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Parental Reflective Functioning, PRFQ Test

Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) Test - Symptoms and Signs

reflection parental attitude

This self-report measure assesses aspects of parental reflective functioning, including a caregiver’s capacity to consider their own mental states and to interpret a child’s behavior in terms of underlying feelings, intentions, and motivations. The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ), by Peter Fonagy and Miriam Steele, is commonly used in clinical and research contexts to characterize parent-child mentalizing.

The instrument includes 16 items and takes about 3 minutes to complete. Findings from the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) may help inform case conceptualization and guide discussion of parent-child interaction patterns, particularly where there are concerns about sensitivity to child cues or emotion-related understanding.

Author: Miriam Steele, Peter Fonagy

Literature: Luyten, P., Mayes, L. C., Nijssens, L., & Fonagy, P. The parental reflective functioning questionnaire: Development and preliminary validation. PLOS ONE. 2017.

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