Psychometric Properties of Shortened Versions of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire

Abstract

Measures of depression are increasingly being used as outcomes or predictors by organizational and consumer psychologists. One such measure is the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ). However, questions about the 30-item ATQ’s factor structure and its length for use in survey research remain. The authors offer 15-and 8-item shortened versions of the ATQ. Two samples ( n = 434 and n = 419) were used to derive the reduced versions. A single factor was found to underlie both reduced versions, with scores on this factor yielding strong estimates of internal consistency and nomological validity. Two more cross-validation samples ( n = 163 and n = 91) also showed support for the 15-and 8-item versions. Overall, results suggest that these reduced-item versions of the ATQ are useful alternatives to measuring cognitions associated with depression.

Negative cognitive response to a sad mood induction: Associations with polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) gene

“…Sample items include, ''Why can't I ever succeed'' and ''My life is a mess''. Previous factor analyses of the ATQ indicate that a single factor structure provides a good fit for the data, thus justifying the use of a total score (Hollon & Kendall, 1980;Netemeyer et al, 2002). In the current study, average ATQ total score was 11.51 (SD08.19; range00Á32) and Cronbach's alpha was .87.…”

A Generalizable Scale of Propensity to Plan: The Long and the Short of Planning for Time and for Money

“…Numerous measurement scholars suggest that short, highly internally consistent scales are preferred (Clark and Watson 1995;Epstein et al 1996;McFarland, Bloodgood, and Payan 2008;Netemeyer et al 2002;Netemeyer, Bearden, and Sharma 2003;Richins 2004;Stanton et al 2002). They argue that short scales are (1) easier to embed in a nomological network with a number of other constructs; (2) easier to intersperse with items tapping other constructs, reducing demand artifacts; and (3) are more likely to demonstrate unidimensionality.…”

Assessment of Response to Mindfulness Meditation: Meditation Breath Attention Scores in Association with Subjective Measures of State and Trait Mindfulness and Difficulty Letting Go of Depressive Cognition

“…Thoughts Questionnaire-Negative (ATQ-8; Netemeyer et al 2002) is a short-form of the original 30-item version of the well-known Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (Hollon and Kendall 1980) that was devised to maintain content validity with the original full-length instrument and correlated >0.95 with it in four large samples examined by Netemeyer and colleagues. The ATQ-8 lists eight common negative thoughts often associated with depression (e.g., "I'm worthless," "I feel so helpless"), and participants indicate the frequency with which each thought occurred over the past month on a five-point scale from "Not at all" to "All the time."…”