Introduction: Object relation has been a fertile concept in psychoanalysis and psychiatry. The growing recognition of the diagnostic value of the object relation concept in psychiatric disorders has led to the development of several scales for its measurement. The study aimed to produce validity and reliability indices in the Portuguese version of a widely used instrument designed to measure object relations, the Bell Object Relations and Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI - Form O). Methods: Data was collected from 218 psychology graduate students. Exploratory factorial analysis allowed obtaining successfully the 4 dimensions described in previous studies. Results: These dimensions showed good correlation scores when compared to their respective dimensions in the English version of the BORRTI - Form O (0.62 for alienation, 0.82 for insecure attachment, 0.83 for egocentricity and 0.78 for social incompetence). Reliability scores were also acceptable with Cronbach's alpha for all items at 0.59, and split-half Spearman-Brown at 0.63. Conclusions: By making these indices available, the study can contribute to the rational choice of scales to investigate object relation in Brazil.
Object relations; Psychoanalysis; Reliability and validity; Factorial analysis
