Pike, AC;
Serfaty, J;
Robinson, OJ;
(2020)
The development and psychometric properties of a self-report Catastrophising Questionnaire.
PsyArXiv Preprints: Ithaca, NY, USA.
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Abstract
Catastrophising is a cognitive process that can be defined as predicting the worst possible outcome. It has been shown to be related to psychiatric diagnoses such as depression and anxiety, yet there are no self-report questionnaires specifically measuring it outside the context of pain research. Here, we therefore develop a novel, comprehensive self-report measure of general catastrophising. We performed five online studies (total n=734), in which we created and refined a Catastrophising Questionnaire, and used a factor analytic approach to understand its underlying structure. We also assessed convergent and discriminant validity, and analysed test-retest reliability. Furthermore, we tested the ability of Catastrophising Questionnaire scores to predict relevant clinical variables over and above other questionnaires. Finally, we also developed a four-item short version of this questionnaire. We found that our questionnaire is best fit by a single underlying factor, and shows convergent and discriminant validity. Exploratory factor analyses indicated that catastrophising is independent from other related constructs, including anxiety and worry. Moreover, we demonstrate incremental validity for this questionnaire in predicting diagnostic and medication status. Finally, we demonstrate that our Catastrophising Questionnaire has good test-retest reliability (Intra-Class-Correlation Coefficient=0.77, p<.001). Critically, we can now, for the first time, obtain detailed self-report data on catastrophising.
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