Measuring repetitive negative thinking: development and validation of the Persistent and Intrusive Negative Thoughts Scale (PINTS)

Natasha Magson*, Ronald M. Rapee, Jasmine Fardouly, Miriam Forbes, Cele Richardson, Carly Johnco, Ella Oar

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    19 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a key risk and maintenance factor for many psychological disorders and is considered a transdiagnostic process. However, there are few disorder-neutral measures that assess RNT in adults, only 1 of moderate length considered suitable for children, and none that are validated for both children and adults. This study aimed to address this gap by developing a brief measure of RNT that can be used with both children and adults and can be quickly administered in research and clinical contexts. In Study 1, we administered the new 5-item Persistent and Intrusive Negative Thoughts Scale (PINTS) to 527 children (50.3% boys; Mage = 11.2). A 1-factor model fit well and was invariant for boys and girls. The scale showed high internal consistency and good stability across a 2-week interval. The PINTS was significantly associated with measures of depression, anxiety, and disordered eating and was weakly associated with adaptive forms of coping, demonstrating good divergent validity. In Study 2, there were 419 adults (38.9% men; Mage = 31.7) who completed the PINTS. The results replicated and extended the results of Study 1 by demonstrating that the PINTS had good construct, convergent, and criterion validity as well as good internal consistency and stability over time and was invariant across gender and age. It was concluded that the PINTS is a brief, valid, and useful tool for investigating RNT as a transdiagnostic process in the etiology and maintenance of psychological disorders in both children and adults.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1329-1339
    Number of pages11
    JournalPsychological Assessment
    Volume31
    Issue number11
    Early online date5 Aug 2019
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2019

    Keywords

    • repetitive negative thinking
    • PINTS
    • mental health
    • transdiagnostic processes

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Measuring repetitive negative thinking: development and validation of the Persistent and Intrusive Negative Thoughts Scale (PINTS)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this