Slovenian Validation of the Capacity to Love Inventory – A Preliminary Study
Authors
Vita Poštuvan
University of Primorska, Andrej Marušič Institute, Slovene Centre for Suicide Research, Koper, Slovenia; University of Primorska, FAMNIT, Department of Psychology, Koper, Slovenia
Timotej Glavač
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jim Schmeckenbecher
Medical University Vienna, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Vienna, Austria
Nestor D. Kapusta
Medical University Vienna, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Vienna, Austria
Keywords:
capacity to love, factor analysis, mental health, psychodynamic, validation
Abstract
Our study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Slovenian version of the Capacity to Love Inventory (CTL-I, Kapusta et al., 2018). The CTL-I is a 41-item self-report questionnaire that measures the construct of capacity to love. The measure itself has been operationalized based on findings from clinical practice and psychodynamic theory and relates to both clinically relevant symptoms as well as healthier manifestations of personality. The CTL-I measures six dimensions:interest in the life project of the other, basic trust, gratitude, common ego ideal, permanence of sexual passion and loss and mourning. Due to the concept of capacity to love being closely related to relationship quality, we used the Quality of Relationship Inventory (QRI) to examine external validity. Our final study sample consisted of 224 non-clinical adults. Overall, the Slovenian version of the CTL-I showed a satisfactory model fit, comparable to that of previous validation studies. The QRI subscales were found to correlate with most of the CTL-I factors, as well as the CTL-I subscales with each other. Because of the instrument being tested on a smaller convenience sample in this study, we believe our findings should be viewed as a preliminary attempt at validating the Slovenian translation of the CTL-I. While the results of the present study are promising, we believe additional research is needed to fully assess the psychometric properties of the Slovenian CTL-I.
