Health Anxiety Beliefs Questionnaire – Frequency Scale (HABQ)
Measures the frequency of dysfunctional cognitive assumptions and beliefs related to health anxiety and hypochondriasis.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Health Anxiety Beliefs Questionnaire – Frequency Scale (HABQ) was developed by Paul M. Salkovskis, Katharine A. Rimes, Hilary M. C. Warwick, & David M. Clark (2002). It is designed to measure Health Anxiety Beliefs. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 32 items organized into 2 factors/subscales: Beliefs about Symptoms and Consultations, Beliefs about Thoughts of Illness.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Beliefs about Symptoms and Consultations | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21 | 21 |
| Beliefs about Thoughts of Illness | 22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32 | 11 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 0 = Idea never occurs, 1 = Idea rarely occurs, 2 = Idea occurs about half the time that I think about these symptoms, 3 = Idea usually occurs, 4 = Idea always occurs.
The scale includes 11 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 0 to 128. Interpretation guidelines:
- Total score range (higher scores indicate higher frequency of health anxiety-related beliefs): 0 – 128
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Not specified in source text.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.