Psychometric properties of a Persian-language version of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire: ATQ-Persian.

Aims: To examine the psychometric properties of a Persian-language version of Hollon and Kendall's (1980) Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-Persian)--a measure of negative automatic thoughts in depression.

Methods: In a sample of 125 student volunteers from two Iranian universities we assessed the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of ATQ-Persian, and examined its concurrent validity against the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et al., 1996). We also examined the factor structure of the test through comparing the fit of various proposed factor-analytic models to the data using confirmatory factor analysis.

Results: ATQ-Persian had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96), test-retest reliability (r = 0.84) and correlation with the Beck Depression Inventory (r = 0.77). Using a receiver operating characteristics curve, a score of 53 on ATQ-Persian was associated with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 78% for detecting moderate to severe depression defined through Beck Depression Inventory. None of the proposed factorial models fitted the data well. However, models with correlated factors generally provided better fit than models with orthogonal factors, suggesting that the latent factors underlying ATQ-Persian are highly correlated.

Conclusions: These data support the reliability and validity of ATQ-Persian as a measure of negative automatic thoughts in depression.