Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ) validation in French language: Investigating association with loneliness

The concept of epistemic trust is gaining traction in the mental health field. It is thought to play a foundational role as a resilience factor against the development and maintenance of psychopathology by facilitating social learnings useful to navigate in the modern world. The primary aim of this study is to validate in French language the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust, and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ). We further investigate associations with key developmental and psychological factors (childhood trauma, mentalizing and attachment), besides possible mediating roles between childhood traumatic experiences and psychopathology and between loneliness and psychopathology. 302 participants were recruited for analysis via the online survey platform Prolific. Along with ETMCQ, measures of CTQ-SF, RFQ-8, ECR-R, UCLA-LS and SCL-90-R were administered. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and General Linear Model of Mediation were conducted. Our study shows that the ETMCQ represents a valid instrument to assess epistemic trust. We find an adequate replication of the original three-factor solution in a francophone population with a 12-item version, exhibiting satisfactory psychometric properties and external validity. We replicate previous findings that demonstrated epistemic trusts attachment style related differences, as well as the mediating effect between childhood traumatic experiences and psychopathology. We also observed that epistemic trust mediates the well-described association between loneliness and psychopathology. We add momentum to the framework that considers epistemic trust as key underlying contributor to the maintenance or alleviation of psychopathology. Future research should investigate the ETMCQ in clinical population, where psychopathological expressions are severe, enduring and connected, and where identifying potential intercessors could help target and improve interventions.