Validation of the Child-version of the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire of repetitive negative thinking in young people with diagnosed depressive and anxiety disorders
This paper sought to provide the first validation of a transdiagnostic measure of repetitive negative thinking – the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire- Child version (PTQ-C) – in young people diagnosed with anxiety and depressive disorders. Participants (N=114) were 11-17 year-olds with complex and comorbid presentations seeking treatment through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Confirmatory factor analyses best supported a three-factor model for the PTQ-C, however, hypotheses of both perfect and close fit were rejected. Results demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity and divergent validity for the three PTQ-S subscales; core characteristics, perceived unproductiveness and consumed mental capacity of negative repetitive thinking. PTQ-C scores did not account for additional variance in anxiety symptoms once worry was considered, indicating that retention of a content specific measure may be warranted in clinical samples. Findings suggest that PTQ-C subscales not total scores should be used with clinical samples, and emphasise the importance of validating clinically relevant measures which were developed with subclinical populations in samples with diagnosed mental health disorders.