Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for psychosis

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Cognitive distortions are implicated in the pathogenesis of psychosis.
• Existing tools may not fully capture these specific biases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for psychosis (CBQp).
• To assess 5 key cognitive distortions: jumping to conclusions, intentionalising, catastrophising, emotional reasoning, and dichotomous thinking.

Main Methods:

• The CBQp was administered to individuals with psychosis, depression, and healthy controls.
• Scale structure, reliability, and validity were evaluated.
• Scores were compared across groups and with existing measures.

Main Results:

• The CBQp exhibited good internal consistency and test-retest reliability.
• A two-factor structure suggested a general interpretation bias rather than distinct errors.
• Psychotic and depressed groups scored higher than healthy controls, with specific biases showing some psychosis specificity.

Conclusions:

• The CBQp possesses favorable psychometric properties for measuring interpretation biases in psychosis.
• It appears to capture a construct distinct from existing reasoning or decision-making tasks.
• The questionnaire is a promising tool for both research and clinical applications in psychosis.