A short form of the Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire.

Area of Science:

• Psychological Assessment
• Clinical Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• The Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) is a widely used measure.
• Assessing attributional style is crucial for understanding cognitive patterns related to mental health.
• A shorter version could improve efficiency in research and clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a short form of the Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ).
• To assess the psychometric properties of the 12-event short form.
• To determine if the short form maintains the validity and reliability of the original ASQ.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 12-event short form from the original Expanded ASQ.
• Validation through two separate studies involving participants completing both the short and long forms.
• Correlational analyses to compare subscale scores between the two forms.
• Reliability analyses (e.g., internal consistency) were conducted.
• Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating scores with depression measures.

Main Results:

• The short form demonstrated high correlations with the long form across subscales (r = .88 to .94).
• Reliability estimates for the short form were comparable to those of the long form.
• The short form showed similar correlations with depression measures as the long form, supporting its validity.
• The 12-event structure proved effective in capturing essential attributional style information.

Conclusions:

• The 12-event Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire is a valid and reliable measure.
• The short form offers a more efficient alternative to the long form for assessing attributional style.
• This validated short form can be utilized in research and clinical practice for efficient assessment of cognitive styles and depression.
• Further research could explore its utility in diverse populations and longitudinal studies.