Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ)

Authors: Philip C. Kendall and Steven D. Hollon

The ATQ is a 30-item instrument that measures the frequency of automatic negative statements about the self. Such statements play an important role in the development, maintenance and treatment of various psychopathologies, including depression.

ATQ taps 4 aspects of these automatic thoughts: personal maladjustment and desire for change (PMDC), negative self-concepts and negative expectations (NSNE), low self-esteem (LSE), and Helplessness.

Scoring: Items are rated on the frequency of occurrence from “not at all” to “all the time”. Total scores are the sum of all 30 items. Items on each factor are: PMDC: 7, 10, 14, 20, 26; NSNE: 2, 3, 9, 21, 23, 24, 28; LSE: 17, 18; Helplessness: 29, 30. A high total score indicates a high level of automatic negative self-statements.

*2^nd version: Asks respondents to rate the degree of belief of each of the 30-items. A high total score indicates greater believability in negative thoughts.

Reliability: The instrument has excellent internal consistency with an alpha coefficient of .97.

Validity: The items significantly discriminated depressed from nondepressed subjects. Has good concurrent validity, correlating with 2 measures of depression, the Beck Depression Inventory and the MMPI Depression scale.

Reference:

Hollon, S. D. & Kendall, P. C. (1980). Cognitive self-statements in depression: Development of an Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 4, 383 – 395.

ATQ-B

Listed below are a variety of thoughts that pop into people’s heads. Please read each thought and indicate how frequently, if at all, the thought occurred to you over the last week. Please read each item carefully and circle the appropriate answers on the answer sheet in the following fashion (1 = “not at all”, 2 = “sometimes”, 3 = “moderately often”, 4 = “often”, and 5 = “all the time”).

Then, please indicate how strongly, if at all, you tend to believe that thought, when it occurs. Note that frequency and degree of belief do not need to be the same. On the right hand side of the page, circle the appropriate answers in the following fashion (1 = “not at all”, 2 = “somewhat”, 3 = “moderately “, 4 = “very much”, and 5 = “totally).

Frequency Items Degree of Belief

1 2 3 4 5 1) I feel like I’m up against the world 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 2) I’m no good. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 3) Why can’t I ever succeed? 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 4) No one understands me. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 5) I’ve let people down. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 6) I don’t think I can go on. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 7) I wish I were a better person 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 8) I’m so weak. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 9) My life’s not going the way I want it to. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 10) I’m so disappointed in myself. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 11) Nothing feels good anymore. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 12) I can’t stand this anymore. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 13) I can’t get started. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 14) What’s wrong with me? 1 2 3 4 5

FREQUENCY:

1 = “not at all”, 2 = “sometimes”, 3 = “moderately often”, 4 = “often”, and 5 = “all the time”

DEGREE OF BELIEF:

1 = “not at all”, 2 = “somewhat”, 3 = “moderately “, 4 = “very much”, and 5 = “totally”

Frequency Items Degree of Belief

1 2 3 4 5 15) I wish I were somewhere else 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 16) I can’t get things together. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 17) I hate myself. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 18) I’m worthless. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 19) Wish I could just disappear. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 20) What’s the matter with me? 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 21) I’m a loser. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 22) My life is a mess. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 23) I’m a failure. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 24) I’ll never make it. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 25) I feel so helpless. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 26) Something has to change 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 27) There must be something wrong with me. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 28) My future is bleak. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 29) It’s just not worth it. 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 30) I can’t finish anything. 1 2 3 4 5