Certainty About Mental States Questionnaire (CAMSQ)

Abstract

The Certainty About Mental States Questionnaire (CAMSQ) is a self-report instrument designed to assess an individual’s perceived capacity for mentalizing, which involves understanding the mental states of both oneself and others. To ensure broad applicability, the CAMSQ was developed with parallel sets of items in both English and German. Initially, 40 items were generated by the authors through a consensus-based approach, and the back-translation method was employed to ensure conceptual equivalence across the two languages. A professional bilingual translator subsequently reviewed the final items for accuracy. Data collection for the CAMSQ involved two distinct studies conducted in the United States and Germany. Factor analysis of the collected data supported a final 20-item structure, organized into two subscales. The development process also included comprehensive assessments of reliability, validity, and measurement invariance between the U.S. and German samples. The authors recommend that future research explore the utility of the CAMSQ within clinical populations and settings.

Keywords

Mentalizing, Mental States, Other-Certainty, Perceived Mentalizing Capacity, Self-Certainty, Other-Self Discrepancy

Authors

• Müller, Sascha

• Wendt, Leon P.

• Zimmermann, Johannes

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Purpose

The CAMSQ serves as a self-report measure to gauge an individual’s perceived capacity for mentalizing, specifically their ability to understand mental states related to themselves and others.

Validity

Convergent and Discriminant Validity: The correlational patterns observed in both U.S. and German samples were remarkably similar, indicating consistent validity across populations. The CAMSQ demonstrated convergent validity, with the Self-Certainty scale showing strong correlations with the Mentalization Scale (MentS; Dimitrijević et al., 2018), reflective functioning, and the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ; Hausberg et al., 2012). The Other-Certainty scale converged with the MentS Other, which specifically addresses inferring mental states of others. Both CAMSQ scales exhibited comparatively lower correlations with the MentS Motivation to Mentalize, suggesting good discriminant validity.

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The CAMSQ demonstrated high internal consistency for both subscales. For Self-Certainty, the omega (ω) values were .90 in the U.S. sample and .88 in the German sample. For Other-Certainty, the ω values were .91 in the U.S. sample and .89 in the German sample.

Test-Retest Reliability: High test-retest correlations were observed over a 2-week interval in a sample of 100 participants, indicating the consistency of all three CAMSQ scores. Specifically, Self-Certainty showed an rtt of .85, Other-Certainty an rtt of .78, and Other-Self-Discrepancy an rtt of .82.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory Factor Analysis: Rotated factor loadings clearly indicated that the two intended constructs, Self-Certainty and Other-Certainty, were accurately reflected by the two factors identified.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis:
For the U.S. sample, the model fit was χ²(701) = 1,679.77, CFI = .90, RMSEA = .05, SRMR = .04. The dynamic cutoffs for good fit were CFI ≥ .903, RMSEA ≤ .079, and SRMR ≤ .072. The fit indices supported the tested measurement model, with CFI = .934, RMSEA = .054, and SRMR = .055.

For the German sample, the model fit was χ²(701) = 1,700.46, CFI = .89, RMSEA = .05, SRMR = .04. The dynamic cutoff criteria were determined at CFI ≥ .934, RMSEA ≤ .059, and SRMR ≤ .052. The fit indices supported the model, with CFI = .935, RMSEA = .049, and SRMR = .052.

Measurement Invariance: Both metric (ΔCFI = −.002) and scalar (ΔCFI = −.010) measurement invariance between the two samples and languages were supported, indicating that the CAMSQ operates similarly across the U.S. and German populations.

Instrument: Certainty About Mental States Questionnaire (CAMSQ)

• Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire

• Format: Items are rated using a 7-point Likert-type scale, where 1 indicates “never,” 2 “almost never,” 3 “sometimes,” 4 “half of the time,” 5 “often,” 6 “almost always,” and 7 “always.” The administration methods include electronic and paper formats.

• Language Available: English, German

• Population Group: Human; Male; Female

• Age Group: Adulthood (18 years & older), including Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), Middle Age (40-64 years), and Aged (65 years & older).

• Population Details: Respondents were adults located in the United States and Germany.

• Test Methodology: Test Validity, Convergent Validity, Discriminant Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Test-Retest Reliability, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Measurement Invariance.

Keywords

Mental States, Other-Certainty, Perceived Mentalizing Capacity, Self-Certainty, Other-Self Discrepancy

Authors

• Müller, Sascha

  • Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8663-4543

  • Affiliation: University of Kassel, Department of Psychology

  • Email Address: [email protected]

  • Correspondence Address: University of Kassel, Department of Psychology, Holländische Straße 36-38, Kassel, Germany, 34127, [email protected]

• Wendt, Leon P.

  • Affiliation: University of Kassel, Department of Psychology

  • Email Address: [email protected]

• Zimmermann, Johannes

  • Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6975-2356

  • Affiliation: University of Kassel

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author.

• Commercial Use: No

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

References

Müller, S., Wendt, L. P., & Zimmermann, J. (2023). Development and validation of the Certainty About Mental States Questionnaire (CAMSQ): A self-report measure of mentalizing oneself and others. Assessment, 30(3), 651–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911211061280

Items of the Certainty About Mental States Questionnaire (CAMSQ)

The CAMSQ includes 20 items, distributed across two subscales: Other-Certainty and Self-Certainty. The specific items are not provided in the original text, but the complete set of items can be found in the Appendix on page 670 of the source article. No data is Available.