Evaluación psicométrica inicial del Cuestionario de Pensamiento Perseverativo en universitarios peruanos

Pablo D Valencia

doi:10.24265/liberabit.2020.v26n2.05

Abstract

Background: The Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) is a global measure of repetitive negative thinking, a core transdiagnostic dimension of mental health. Objectives: This study sought to examine the factor structure, reliability, and evidence of associative validity of the PTQ in Peruvian undergraduates. Method: Data from 240 undergraduates (Mage = 20.33, 59% female) were evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis. After finding the best factor structure, reliability was estimated with coefficient omega. The correlation between the PTQ’s latent variable and cognitive fusion was examined as evidence of associative validity. Results: the PTQ proved to be essentially unidimensional since acceptable fit was obtained by the one-factor model with three correlations between errors (CFI = .945; RMSEA = .079). Reliability was high (ω = .927). The correlation between the PTQ and cognitive fusion was very large (ϕ = .876). Conclusion: The PTQ is an essentially unidimensional measure, thus only a global score should be computed. Associative validity should be further examined in future studies.

Highlights

For people who suffer from emotional disorders, dwelling on the ‘quicksand of thought’ is an all-toocommon experience
Researchers have long acknowledged the fact that repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a core feature of human emotional suffering (Ehring & Watkins, 2008; Harvey et al, 2004)
I examined the modification indices (MI) again and decided to add yet another correlation between errors—those of items 1 (The same thoughts keep going through my mind again and again) and 3 (I can’t stop dwelling on them)

Summary

Introduction

For people who suffer from emotional disorders, dwelling on the ‘quicksand of thought’ is an all-toocommon experience. RNT is characterised by the predominance of verbal processing (as opposed to imagery), negative affective valence, and abstractness (as opposed to concreteness) (Ehring & Watkins, 2008; Watkins, 2008). This thinking style promotes and prolongs states of discomfort, while impairing problem-solving and interpersonal relations (Erickson et al, 2020). In relation to depressive disorders, RNT has been mostly studied as rumination, which is characterised by thinking repetitively and passively about the symptoms of distress, as well as the possible causes and consequences of such symptoms (Nolen-Hoeksema et al, 2008). In the same vein as rumination, most research on worry has been conducted using a specific measure: the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ; Meyer et al, 1990)

Objectives

Methods

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Conclusion