Development, factor structure and psychometric properties of a questionnaire to evaluate post – divorce negative thoughts in Spanish

Abstract

Negatively biased thoughts have been found in responses to negative or threatening events, like divorce. In this paper we describe the development, factor structure and psychometric properties of a 12-item questionnaire developed in Spanish to assess parental post-divorce negative thoughts. Study 1 reported item generation, selection and exploratory factor analysis. Study 2 confirmatory factor analysis and reliability of the scale. Study 3 analysed convergent and discriminant validity, and Study 4 predictive validity. Results showed that the Post – Divorce Negative Thoughts Questionnaire had a three factor structure - negative thoughts about children, negative evaluation of divorce and negative thoughts about the self-, and good internal consistency with alphas ranging from .72 to .80. Gender-custody, time married and time divorced were differently associated with the occurrence of post-divorce negative thoughts (discriminant validity). Post-divorce negative thoughts were inversely associated (convergent validity) with adjustment to divorce, forgiveness of an ex-spouse, and subjective well-being (satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect). Finally, the association of post-divorce negative thoughts with Children’s Behaviour Problems is an indicator of predictive validity. Those preliminary results proved the good psychometric properties of the Post – Divorce Negative Thoughts Questionnaire, that seems to be an appropriate instrument to evaluate negative thoughts that could hinder adjustment to divorce and post-divorce subjective well-being. To finish, implications for the work with divorced families are discussed.