Multidimensionality in the Referential Thinking Scale (REF): An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Description

This instrumental study aimed to replicate the exploratory factor analysis of the Referential Thinking Scale (REF) which has been carried out in other research studies. The REF consists of 34 items which assess the frequency of referential thinking on a dichotomic scale (True/False). The analyzed data come from a sample of 193 participants (67.36% women, mean age 28.36 years, SD = 10.35), 131 of whom were patients. By means of the Principal Component Analysis method and varimax rotation, five factors were identified that account for 37.35% of the variance of rotated factor solution. The five factors were labelled as: Laughing, Commenting (which accounted for 8.92% of variance); Guilt, Shame (which accounted for 8.77% of variance); Causal Explanations (which accounted for 7.17% of variance); Songs, Newspapers, Books (which accounted for 6.44% of variance); and Attention, Appearance (which accounted for 6.04% of variance). These results confirm the multidimensionality of the REF scale since the same five factors as in previous studies were isolated.

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