Purpose of the test: The ATQ-R is designed to assess the frequency of negative automatic thoughts experienced by individuals in the past week. These automatic thoughts are involuntary negative cognitions that arise in response to situations or events.

Target population: The ATQ-R is intended for use with adolescents and adults in clinical and research settings.

Author(s): A. T. Beck, A. J. Rush, B. F. Shaw & G. Emery (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York: Guilford Press.

Brief description of the development study:

• # of items and item format:The ATQ-R consists of 30 items presented in a self-report format. Each item describes a negative automatic thought, and individuals rate the frequency with which they experienced that thought in the past week on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = never; 5 = always).
• Psychometric properties:The original study by Beck et al. (1979) involved college students (n=341). The measure demonstrated good internal consistency (coefficient alpha = .77) and convergent validity by correlating positively with clinician ratings of depression severity.

Factors measured: The ATQ-R measures the frequency of negative automatic thoughts across various domains, such as self-depreciation, hopelessness, and perceived burden on others.

Norm sample: The original study used a sample of college students, which may limit the generalizability of the norms.

Problems with the study and improvements:

• The study’s reliance on a college student sample might not adequately represent the broader population experiencing negative automatic thoughts. Future studies could involve more diverse samples regarding age and clinical presentations.
• The self-report nature of the measure is susceptible to social desirability bias, where individuals might underreport negative thoughts. Including a measure of social desirability could help address this issue.

Scoring:

• Each item is scored on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating a greater frequency of negative automatic thoughts.
• Summing the scores across all items yields a total score.

Blank version of the measure:

Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions, I cannot include the full ATQ-R here. However, you can find the measure in the reference provided or by searching online psychological assessment resources.

Scoring key and/or description of how to score:

• Refer to the original source (Beck et al., 1979) or a psychological assessment textbook for detailed scoring instructions.

Score interpretation:

• Higher total scores on the ATQ-R indicate a greater frequency of negative automatic thoughts, which may be associated with depression and other mental health conditions.

Alternative versions available (if any):

• The Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) is a shorter version of the ATQ-R with 16 items.