Development and Validation of the Brief Unhelpful Thoughts Scale (BUTs)

Abstract

A key component of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is to identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns (also known as cognitive distortions, thinking errors, or distorted automatic negative thoughts) in interventions that foster more reality-oriented thinking. This paper describes the development and validation of the Brief Unhelpful Thinking Scale (BUTs). Four studies were conducted of which three included mixed undergraduate and community samples (Studies 1-3) and one was a clinical sample of individuals diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). An 11-item two-factor model of unhelpful thinking emerged in Study 1(N=223), which was confirmed in Study 2(N=203). The first factor focused on negative self-bias (e.g., generalized, negative, emotional), and the second factor focused on expectations of others (e.g., expectations others will act fairly, change, follow rules). Study 3 (N=23) established test-retest reliability for the BUTs and the final study (N=9) examined BUTs in a group-based CBT intervention for SAD. This study showed the BUTs to be sensitive to changes in unhelpful thinking after a CBT intervention. Conclusion: In conclusion, the BUTs is a brief psychometrically valid measure of unhelpful thinking that can be utilized by both clinicians and researchers who wish to measure individual unhelpful thinking patterns and relate them to changes in psychological distress in CBT-based interventions.