Reliability and validity of Persian version of mentalization scale in university students

Introduction: Mentalization is a type of social cognition that determines the ability to understand and interpret the behavior of oneself and others. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of Persian version of mentalization scale in students of medical sciences. Materials and Methods: In this study, among students studying at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2019, 176 cases were selected randomly and fulfilled the mentalization scale. The correlation of the scores with the total score and the correlation of the subscales were used after examining the content validity of the mentalization scale. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure. Convergent validity was to examine the relationship between mentalization and empathy. Cronbach's alpha, halving coefficient and retest method were used to determine the internal consistency. Results: The results showed that the content validity and the convergence validity between empathy and mentalization were significant. The correlation between the items and the total score was between 0.12 and 0.49, and it was significant (P< 0.001). The results of exploratory factor analysis explained the scale as 3 factors and the total variance of the questions as 34.38. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, retest reliability coefficient and halving reliability coefficient were 0.63, 0.36 and 0.66, respectively. Conclusion: Based on the results, it seems that the mentalization scale is a tool with appropriate validity and reliability for measuring mentalization.