The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms
The Scrambled Sentences Task (SST) is a robust measure of interpretational processes in psychopathology. However, there is little evidence of its utility in measuring dysfunctional appraisals (DAs) of potentially traumatic events. We developed a novel SST for trauma-related DAs and examined its psyc...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Experimental Psychopathology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087221124737 |
| _version_ | 1797995277722845184 |
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| author | Felix Würtz Simon E Blackwell Jürgen Margraf Marcella L Woud |
| author_facet | Felix Würtz Simon E Blackwell Jürgen Margraf Marcella L Woud |
| author_sort | Felix Würtz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Scrambled Sentences Task (SST) is a robust measure of interpretational processes in psychopathology. However, there is little evidence of its utility in measuring dysfunctional appraisals (DAs) of potentially traumatic events. We developed a novel SST for trauma-related DAs and examined its psychometric properties including convergent validity (correlations with PTSD-related symptoms and self-reported DAs), divergent validity (e.g., symptoms of depression and eating disorders), and retest reliability via an online study. Our sample (T1: N = 214, T2: N = 145) included participants who reported a potentially traumatic life event still eliciting distress. We found high correlations between the SST, PTSD-related symptoms ( r = .37-.51), and self-report measures of DAs ( r = .41-.58), indicating good convergent validity. Internal consistency (split-half = .78-.90) and retest reliability (ICC(3,1) = .73-.81) were also good. However, moderate to large correlations with symptoms of other disorders ( r = .17-.58) indicated limited divergent validity. Finally, the SST explained unique variance in PTSD-related symptoms above self-report measures of DAs. The results demonstrate the promise of the SST as a valid and reliable tool to assess DAs in the context of potentially traumatic life events. Further research should investigate the transdiagnostic role of trauma-related DAs in psychopathology and the relationship between the SST and self-report measures of DAs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:58:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f7e8bd32a61c4859a15b985202cf1d77 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2043-8087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:58:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Experimental Psychopathology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f7e8bd32a61c4859a15b985202cf1d772022-12-22T04:30:29ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Experimental Psychopathology2043-80872022-09-011310.1177/20438087221124737The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptomsFelix WürtzSimon E BlackwellJürgen MargrafMarcella L WoudThe Scrambled Sentences Task (SST) is a robust measure of interpretational processes in psychopathology. However, there is little evidence of its utility in measuring dysfunctional appraisals (DAs) of potentially traumatic events. We developed a novel SST for trauma-related DAs and examined its psychometric properties including convergent validity (correlations with PTSD-related symptoms and self-reported DAs), divergent validity (e.g., symptoms of depression and eating disorders), and retest reliability via an online study. Our sample (T1: N = 214, T2: N = 145) included participants who reported a potentially traumatic life event still eliciting distress. We found high correlations between the SST, PTSD-related symptoms ( r = .37-.51), and self-report measures of DAs ( r = .41-.58), indicating good convergent validity. Internal consistency (split-half = .78-.90) and retest reliability (ICC(3,1) = .73-.81) were also good. However, moderate to large correlations with symptoms of other disorders ( r = .17-.58) indicated limited divergent validity. Finally, the SST explained unique variance in PTSD-related symptoms above self-report measures of DAs. The results demonstrate the promise of the SST as a valid and reliable tool to assess DAs in the context of potentially traumatic life events. Further research should investigate the transdiagnostic role of trauma-related DAs in psychopathology and the relationship between the SST and self-report measures of DAs.https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087221124737 |
| spellingShingle | Felix Würtz Simon E Blackwell Jürgen Margraf Marcella L Woud The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms Journal of Experimental Psychopathology |
| title | The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms |
| title_full | The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms |
| title_fullStr | The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms |
| title_full_unstemmed | The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms |
| title_short | The world dangerous it is—The scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms |
| title_sort | world dangerous it is the scrambled sentences task in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087221124737 |
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