Revision and psychometric properties of the negative cognitive processing bias scale

Negative cognitive processing bias (NCPB) is a cognitive trait that makes individuals more inclined to prioritize negative external stimuli (cues) when processing information. Cognitive biases have long been observed in mood and anxiety disorders, improving validation of tools to measure this phenomenon will aid us to determine whether there is a robust relationship between NCPB and major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders and other clinical disorders. Despite the development of an initial measure of this trait, that is, the negative cognitive processing bias questionnaire (NCPBQ), the lack of psychometric examinations and applications in large-scale samples hinders the determination of its reliability and validity and further limits our understanding of how to measure the NCPB traits of individuals accurately. To address these issues, the current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the NCPBQ in a large-scale sample (n = 6,069), which was divided into two subsamples (Subsample 1, n = 3,035, serving as the exploratory subsample, and Subsample 2, n = 3,034, serving as the validation subsample), and further revised it into a standardized scale, that is the negative cognitive processing bias scale (NCPBS), based on psychometric constructs. The results show that NCPBS possesses good construct reliability, internally consistent reliability, and test-retest reliability. Furthermore, by removing two original items from NCPBQ, NCPBS was found to have good criterion-related validity. In conclusion, the present study provides a reliable and valid scale for assessing negative cognitive processing bias of individuals.