Turkish adaptation of the Real Relationship Inventory–Therapist Form: A validity and reliability study

This study aimed to adapt the Real Relationship Inventory–Therapist Form (RRI-T) into Turkish and to examine its psychometric properties. The real relationship is widely regarded as the most fundamental component of the therapeutic relationship, yet no Turkish instrument previously existed to assess it. The study group consisted of 420 mental health professionals working across Türkiye. The scale was adapted following the recommended cross-cultural adaptation steps, including translation, back-translation, expert committee review, and a pilot application. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine construct validity. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that five items should be removed from the original 24-item structure; the remaining 19 items loaded onto two factors labeled Realism and Genuineness, consistent with the original theoretical framework. Confirmatory factor analysis using the DWLS estimation method yielded acceptable to good fit indices. Reliability analyses demonstrated internal consistency coefficients ranging from acceptable to high across both subscales and the total scale. Criterion validity analyses showed that RRI-T total scores were significantly and positively correlated with the Therapeutic Presence Inventory–Therapist Form, with a stronger association observed for the Genuineness subscale. Overall, the findings indicate that the Turkish form of the RRI-T is a valid and reliable measurement instrument for use with Turkish mental health professionals.