Assessment of self-statements in agoraphobic situations

The study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a self-report questionnaire for use in both treatment-outcome research and process studies: the Agoraphobic Self-Statements Questionnaire (ASQ). The ASQ comprises two subscales: a positive self-statements subscale and a negative self-statements subscale. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that, with the exception of one item, the proposed bidimensional structure of the ASQ reappeared in a second agoraphobic patient sample. Internal consistency of both subscales was satisfactory. Both subscales appeared to be sensitive to change in treatment and discriminated between agoraphobic patients and normal controls. Construct validity of the negative subscale was satisfactory, whilst additional validation of the positive subscale is required. Findings also revealed that positive thinking may serve as a coping device and that the occurrence of negative self-statements might be considered a sine qua non for the occurrence of positive self-statements. It is concluded that the ASQ can contribute to the understanding of cognitive processes during treatment of agoraphobia.