Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ) validation in French language: Exploring links to loneliness

Published inPloS one, vol. 20, no. 3, e0303918
First online date2025-03-21
Abstract

The concept of epistemic trust is gaining traction in the mental health field. Epistemic trust is thought to play a foundational role as a resilience factor against the development and maintenance of psychopathology by fostering social learning. The primary aim of this study was to validate the French-language version of the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ). We further sought to replicate previously reported associations with key developmental and psychological factors (childhood trauma, mentalizing and attachment) and test for epistemic trust's potential mediating roles between childhood traumatic experiences and psychopathology, and between loneliness and psychopathology. A total of 302 participants were recruited via the online survey platform Prolific. Confirmatory factor analysis and generalized linear models of mediation were conducted. Our findings suggest that the ETMCQ is a valid instrument to assess epistemic trust in the French language. Satisfactory psychometric properties were found to replicate the original three-factor solution in a Francophone population with a 12-item version of the questionnaire, with criterion-related validity similar to that previously published in validations of the ETMCQ in other languages. We also replicate previous findings reporting differential associations between epistemic stances (trust, mistrust and credulity) and attachment dimensions and styles, while also replicating mediation analyses showing the role of epistemic stances in the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and psychopathology. Finally, we report preliminary evidence suggesting that epistemic trust mediates the well-described association between loneliness and psychopathology. Future research should investigate the ETMCQ in clinical populations in which psychopathological expressions are severe, enduring and co-occurring, where identifying potential mediators could help target and personalize psychosocial interventions.

Keywords
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • France
  • Humans
  • Language
  • Loneliness / psychology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Psychometrics
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Trust / psychology
  • Young Adult
Citation (ISO format)
GREINER, Christian et al. Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ) validation in French language: Exploring links to loneliness. In: PloS one, 2025, vol. 20, n° 3, p. e0303918. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303918
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Secondary files (4)
Appendix - ETMCQ items in French.
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Supplemental data - Study dataset 1. ETMCQ french_for CFA.
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Supplemental data - Study dataset 2. ETMCQ french_for convergence.
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Identifiers
Additional URL for this publicationhttps://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303918
Journal ISSN1932-6203
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Technical informations

Creation30/09/2025 06:54:26
First validation08/10/2025 09:14:05
Update08/10/2025 09:14:05
Status update08/10/2025 09:14:05
Last indexation08/10/2025 09:14:07
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