Dimensionality of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ)

The Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ) is a self-report measure in development by the Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group (OCCWG), who studies cognitive aspects of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). The aim of this paper was to evaluate the dimensionality of the OBQ in students (n = 995). Two models were tested in a confirmatory framework, corresponding to the OCCWG's (a) original six subscales (87 items), and (b) more recent three subscales (44 items). Both models fit the present data poorly; thus, an exploratory analysis was undertaken. Results revealed one large factor that is relevant, but not unique, to OCD, and three factors that are conceptually consistent with the OCCWG's recent three: (a) distorted beliefs about one's own thoughts, (b) perfectionism, and (c) inflated responsibility. Convergent and divergent validity analyses of the present OBQ factors generally supported the preceding interpretations. Readers are referred to the work of the OCCWG for revisions to the OBQ.     

Validation of a Chinese Version of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) assign a central role to maladaptive beliefs. Evaluation of these OCD beliefs in Western countries is commonly accomplished using the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ) and is important for conceptualizing and treating OCD. It remains unclear if Western models of OCD beliefs are appropriate for sufferers in some non-Western regions, such as China, which represents nearly 20 % of the world population. Thus, the aim of present study is to examine the psychometric properties of a Chinese translation of the OBQ in three samples: 1,322 undergraduates, 139 patients with OCD, and 79 patients with other anxiety disorders. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed poor fit for multiple English-based models of the OBQ. However, an exploratory factor analysis supported an OBQ model that differs slightly from the English version: (1) Perfectionism/Certainty (P/C), (2) Over-Estimation of Threat (T), (3) Importance of Thoughts/Responsibility for Harm (I/R). This Chinese version of the OBQ (C-OBQ) contains 30 items and shows adequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, and criterion-related validity. In China, the C-OBQ may be a useful instrument for delineating cognitive patterns associated with OCD to inform research and treatment.     

The Validity and Specificity of the Short-Form of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ)

Moulding et al. (Assessment 18:357–374, 2011) created a 20-item short-form of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ; Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group in Behaviour Research and Therapy 43:1527–1542, 2005) labeled the OBQ-20. To date, the psychometric properties of the OBQ-20 have yet to be examined among clinical respondents. It is also unknown whether the OBQ-20 addresses the limited specificity of prior OBQ versions to obsessive-compulsive symptoms. In Study 1, using a small clinical sample (N?=?48), each OBQ-20 scale evidenced good internal consistency and shared a nearly identical correlation in magnitude with obsessive-compulsive symptoms relative to a corresponding full-length OBQ scale. In Study 2, using a large community sample (N?=?507), the OBQ-20 scales generally correlated equivalently with obsessive-compulsive symptoms relative to both depression and generalized anxiety symptoms. The OBQ-20 demonstrated strong psychometric properties, but, like prior OBQ versions, did not emerge as specific to obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Given its brevity and potential transdiagnostic importance, the OBQ-20 will likely be a useful assessment tool in both research and clinical settings.     

New Factor Structure of the Interpretation of Intrusions Inventory with University Students

The Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group (OCCWG) created the Interpretation of Intrusions Inventory (III) to measure appraisals (interpretations) of mental intrusions. Validation attempts by the OCCWG suggest that the three appraisal mechanisms hypothesized to comprise the III are better described as a single construct. The underlying factor structure of the III was investigated with university students (n = 307). Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on the theoretically-derived three-factor model and on the empirically-derived one-factor model of the III. Both models failed to adequately fit the data. Thus, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted, which produced a two-factor model consisting of appraisals of Responsibility and Importance/Control of Thoughts. The new factors exhibited good predictive validity, as they predicted the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

The Spanish validation of the Short Health Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric properties and clinical utility

Background/ObjectiveThe Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) is a widely used self-report instrument to evaluate health anxiety. To assess the SHAI's factor structure, psychometric properties, and accuracy in differentiating Spanish non-clinical individuals from patients with severe health anxiety or hypochondriasis.MethodA total of 342 community participants (61.6% women; M_age = 34.60, SD = 14.91) and 31 hypochondriacal patients (51.6% women; M_age = 32.74, SD = 9.69) completed the SHAI and other self-reports assessing symptoms of hypochondriasis, depression, anxiety sensitivity, worry, and obsessive-compulsive.ResultsThe original two-factor structure was selected as the best structure, based on its parsimony and empirical support (Factor 1: Illness likelihood; Factor 2: Negative consequences of illness). Moreover, the Spanish version of the SHAI demonstrated good construct and concurrent and discriminant validity, and internal consistency. A cutoff of 40.5 (total score) accurately distinguished non-clinical individuals from patients with severe health anxiety or hypochondriasis.ConclusionsThe SHAI is an adequate screening instrument to measure health anxiety in Spanish-speaking community adults.     

The development and validation of the Beliefs About Losing Control Inventory (BALCI)

ABSTRACT

Cognitive theory of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) proposes that maladaptive beliefs play a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of symptoms. Clinical reports as well as recent psychometric and experimental investigations suggest that control-related beliefs in OCD may benefit from expansion to include aspects of losing control. However, currently available measures either focus on other facets of control (e.g., sense of control) or do not put emphasis on beliefs about losing control (e.g., beliefs about control over thoughts). The current study aimed to develop and validate the Beliefs About Losing Control Inventory (BALCI), a self-report measure of negative beliefs about losing control, in a sample of undergraduate participants (N= 488). An exploratory factor analysis revealed that the BALCI’s 21 items capture negative beliefs about losing control over one’s thoughts, behaviour, and emotions (Factor 1), beliefs about the importance of staying in control (Factor 2), and beliefs about losing control over one’s body/bodily functions (Factor 3). The BALCI was also found to have good convergent and divergent validity and to be associated with elevated OCD symptoms above and beyond previously identified obsessive beliefs. Theoretical implications and recommendations for the field of cognitive-behaviour therapy are discussed.     

Psychometric properties and validation of the Portuguese version of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire Revised (ACQ-R)

Current Psychology - Early experiences appear to influence the sense of unpredictability and uncontrollability of both life events and emotions in vulnerable individuals. The perception of low...     

Psychometric properties of the French and English versions of the Vancouver Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory and the Symmetry Ordering and Arranging Questionnaire

The Vancouver Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (VOCI) and the Symmetry Ordering and Arranging Questionnaire (SOAQ) are self-report measures that assess a wide variety of symptoms and features of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) including checking, contamination, obsessions, hoarding, "just right", indecisiveness, and symmetry, ordering and arranging obsessions and compulsions. The original English versions of the VOCI and SOAQ have been shown to demonstrate excellent psychometric properties. The present study examined the reliability and validity of French translations of these measures in a non-clinical sample, and also involved the collection of supplementary psychometric information about the English versions of the scales from a new sample. Volunteer undergraduate students completed questionnaire packages including the VOCI and SOAQ, as well as measures of obsessive-compulsive, phobic and depressive symptomatology in their native language of either French or English. Results indicate that the French versions of the VOCI and SOAQ demonstrate similar and excellent psychometric properties to the English versions and that these measures are highly valid and reliable assessment tools for use in clinical and research applications in both languages.     

Psychometric validation of an Organisational Performance Questionnaire (OPQ) based on the Burke-Litwin model

This study reports the findings on the development and validation of an Organisational Performance Questionnaire (OPQ) based on the Burke-Litwin model. Respondents were 398 employees from various public and private sector organisations in South Africa, consisting of different genders (male = 60.8%, female = 39.2%), different functional groupings (mostly operations, finance, human relations = 37.25%) and mostly middle or senior level managers (62.4%). Data were analysed utilising exploratory factor analysis with promax rotation. Results indicated the OPQ to measure all twelve of the Burke-Litwin elements contained in their model: external environment, mission and strategy, leadership, culture, structure, management practices, systems, work group climate, skills/job match, individual needs and values, motivation, and organisational and individual performance. An OPQ based on the Burke-Litwin model appears valid for assessing organisational performance in the South African setting.     

Evaluating the Parentification Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties and Psychopathology Correlates

The Parentification questionniare (PQ; Jurkovic and Thirkield in Parentification questionnaire, University Plaza, Atlanta, GA, 1998), developed to assess various levels of parentification retrospectively, is one of the most widely used instruments in the clinical and research literature base. Yet, despite its frequent use, no studies of which we are aware have examined the psychometric properties of this instrument. Thus, this study fills a gap in the literature by examining the psychometric properties of the PQ with a sample of 143 racially diverse college students. The data were subjected to exploratory analysis using principal component analysis. Varimax orthogonal rotations were applied to the analyses. The final results supported a three-component solution (although with fewer items), consistent with Jurkovic’s three-factor multidimensional clinical framework for understanding parentification. We also examined the relations between the resultant scores of the PQ and scores from the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis in Derogatis Brief symptom inventory: Administration, scoring, and procedures manual, National Computer Systems, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1993), which captures mental health symptomatology. These results reflected significant correlations in theoretically expected directions. However, taken together, the three PQ factors significantly accounted for the variance in psychopathology scores in only two of the four regression models. The preliminary results from this study support the reliability and multidimensional nature of the PQ scores. Implications for family therapy and suggestions for future family systems research are discussed.     

Psychometric properties of the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised among Icelandic college students

In the present study, the psychometric properties of the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) (Foa, et al., 2002) were investigated. The OCI-R was administered to a total of 816 Icelandic college students. The Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) were administered to a subsample of 304 students, and the PI-WSUR (Padua Inventory Washington State University Revision), the PSWQ and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) to another subsample of 212 students. Also, 89 students filled in the OCI-R twice with two weeks in between. The factor structure of the instrument was replicated in a confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliabilities of the OCI-R total scale and all subscales were satisfactory. Further, the OCI-R total score showed a significantly higher correlation with the PI-WSUR and the MOCI than with the PSWQ or the MPS. Finally, conceptually similar scales of the OCI-R and the MOCI as well as the PI-WSUR showed higher inter-correlations than the correlations that were observed between conceptually more distinct scales. It is concluded that the Icelandic version of the OCI-R has strong psychometric properties in a student population.     

Development and validation of the Childhood Perfectionism Inventory (I.P.I.)

There are a few studies linking children's perfectionism with diverse internalized or externalized disorders. Likewise, in Spanish, there is no scale that measures the diverse aspects that comprise it. This paper presents the Children's Perfectionism Inventory (IPI). The sample comprised 2,260 participants (51.2% males and 48.8% females). The age range is between 8 and 13 years (mean= 9.94 and SD= 1.27). Sampling was stratified and random. Of the sample, 78.1% are from public education and 21.9% from private education. 16.2% reside in rural areas and 83.8% in urban areas. To study the validity of the questionnaire, cross-validation was performed. Initially three factors were obtained through exploratory factor analysis: Self-assessment, Self-imposed and External Pressures, with adequate reliability indices (Cronbach's alpha= .89, .87 and .88, respectively). Subsequently, using a confirmatory method, it was found that the three initial factors were explained by a single second-order factor called Perfectionism.     

Psychometric evaluation of the Menstrual Joy Questionnaire

Analysis of 10 terms in the Menstrual Joy Questionnaire of Delaney, Lupton, and Toth indicated that the 34 undergraduate students did not agree on the definitions of scale items. The authors discuss the use of this questionnaire as a stimulus in experimental research and as a measure of positive perimenstrual experience.     

The Common Beliefs Survey-III and the Situational Self-Statement and Affective State Inventory: Test-Retest Reliability, Internal Consistency, and Further Psychometric Considerations

The Common Beliefs Survey-III (CBS-III), a factored measure of general irrational beliefs, has satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. The Situational Self-Statement and Affective State Inventory (SSSASI), also with acceptable basic psychometric properties, assesses specific thoughts and feelings in response to vignettes describing frustrating events. Both inventories are potentially useful in assessing dimensions important to REBT, but information on test-retest reliability is needed. The CBS-III and the SSSASI were administered to 101 undergraduate students on two occasions, two or three weeks apart. Satisfactory test-retest reliability coefficients were obtained on all subscales of both inventories, but in the case of the SSSASI reliabilities were generally stronger when the same form of the test was used on both occasions (Form 1 presented the thoughts before the feelings, whereas Form 2 presented the feelings before the thoughts). Further exploration showed that responding to the thoughts before the feelings significantly attenuated scores on the feelings, but responding to the feelings before the thoughts had no effect on scores on the thoughts. This unexpected finding also held true in a previously unexamined data set obtained with a different sample of students several years earlier. Taking careful stock of one's emotional reactions before embarking on cognitive modification interventions seems essential to REBT, and it follows that asking questionnaire respondents to rate their affective states before they rate their self-statements could be desirable conceptually. These results provide empirical support for that strategy.     

Psychometric Properties of the HEXACO Personality Inventory

We introduce a personality inventory designed to measure six major dimensions of personality derived from lexical studies of personality structure. The HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI) consists of 24 facet-level personality trait scales that define the six personality factors named Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E), Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), and Openness to Experience (O). In this validation study involving a sample of over 400 respondents, all HEXACO-PI scales showed high internal consistency reliabilities, conformed to the hypothesized six-factor structure, and showed adequate convergent validities with external variables. The HEXACO factor space, and the rotations of factors within that space, are discussed with reference to J. S. Wiggins' work on the circumplex.     

Psychometric Properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire

  We examined the psychometric properties of a German translation of the Child Global Report version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ). A total of 1219 German school-children (644 boys and 575 girls), ages 10–14 years participated in the study. The APQ was subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis produced five factors that were largely consistent with the a priori scale structure. These factors included dimensions of parental involvement, positive parenting, poor monitoring/supervision, inconsistent discipline, and corporal punishment. Fit indexes from confirmatory factor analyses suggested that the five factor model represented a satisfactory solution for the data, with some minor modifications in scale content. These findings provide initial support for the factorial validity of the child report version of the APQ in German families.     

Psychometric Synthesis of the Counselor Burnout Inventory

The authors reviewed 12 studies using the Counselor Burnout Inventory, including the results from their original, large‐sample study of school counselors (N = 1,005). Aggregated internal consistency (coefficient alpha) was .90 (N = 1,708), and subscale alphas ranged from .73 to .86 (N = 2,809). Test–retest reliability was .81 (N = 18; k = 1), with subscale test–retest reliability estimates ranging from .72 to .85. Convergent comparisons were robust across 10 instruments. Structural validity indicated a 5‐factor solution and an adequate to good fit of the model to the current study's data.