Table of Contents
Instructions:
Do you disagree or agree with the following statements?
| Disagree Strongly | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Agree Strongly | ||
| Thinking of making an extremely critical remark to a friend is almost as unacceptable to me as actually saying it. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think of a relative/friend losing their job, this increases the risk that they will lose their job. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Having a blasphemous thought is almost as sinful to me as a blasphemous action. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Thinking about swearing at someone else is almost as unacceptable to me as actually swearing. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think of a relative/friend being in a car accident, this increases the risk that he/she will have a car accident. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| When I have a nasty thought about someone else, it is almost as bad as carrying out a nasty action. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think of a friend/relative being injured in a fall, this increases the risk that he/she will have a fall and be injured. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Having violent thoughts is almost as unacceptable to me as violent acts. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think of a relative/friend falling ill this increases the risk that he/she will fall ill. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| When I think about making an obscene remark or gesture in church, it is almost as sinful as actually doing it. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I wish harm on someone, it is almost as bad as doing harm. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think of myself being injured in a fall, this
increases the risk that I will have a fall and be injured. |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| When I think unkindly about a friend, it is almost as disloyal as doing an unkind act. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think of myself being in a car accident, this increases the risk that I will have a car accident. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think about making an obscene gesture to someone else, it is almost as bad as doing it. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I think of myself falling ill, this increases the risk that I will fall ill. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| If I have a jealous thought, it is almost the same as making a jealous remark. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Disagree Strongly | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Agree Strongly | ||
| Thinking of cheating in a personal relationship is almost as immoral to me as actually cheating. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Having obscene thoughts in a church is unacceptable to me. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
Description
The TAFS-R is a 19-item self-report measure of the tendency known as “thoughts-actions-fusion”(TAF) which is important to OCD. The distorted thought at the heart of thought-action-fusion is the irrational assumption that just because a “bad” thought presents itself to your mind, then it is undeniably followed or accompanied by a specific “bad” action. In other words, thinking something makes it so. This measure is useful in tracking the cognitive components of OCD over time. The scale is suitable for adults and measures three domains of thought-action fusion; TAF-Moral – The belief that having an unacceptable thought is the moral equivalent of carrying out the morally unacceptable or disturbing action. TAF-Likelihood Other – The belief that thinking an unacceptable thought about another person increases the likelihood of that thing happening to them. TAF-Likelihood Self – The belief that thinking an unacceptable thought about ourselves makes it more likely to occur.
Validity and Reliability
TAFS-R has been validated in student (Lee, Cougle, & Telch, 2005), community and clinical samples (Shafran, Thordarson, & Rachman, 1996).. Student (n = 122) and community samples (n = 272) supported a 3-factor solution consistent with the three subscales (Shafran, Thordarson, & Rachman, 1996). All three subscales have demonstrated acceptable reliability, with Cronbach’s alphas from 0.85 to 0.96 (Shafran et al., 1996). However a clinical sample of adults with anxiety and mood disorders (n = 700), n=110 of which were diagnosed with OCD according to DSM-IV criteria (Meyer & Brown, 2013) supported the 2-factor structure (TAF-M and TAF-L).
Interpretation
Raw scores and percentiles for the three subscales are given as output, with higher scores indicating a stronger tendency toward though-action-fusion like cognitions. For each subscale, percentiles based on a student and clinical sample are computed using Safron et al., (1996) original validation samples. A percentile of 50 for the OCD clinical sample represents the average amount of TAF thoughts that a person with OCD experiences, while a percentile of 50 on the student sample indicates the average TAF thoughts that a relatively healthy individual experiences. Percentiles are not computes for the total score. The three subscales are as follows: TAF-Moral – The belief that having an unacceptable thought is the moral equivalent of carrying out the unacceptable or disturbing action. Sum items: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19 TAF-Likelihood Other – The belief that thinking an unacceptable thought about another person increases the likelihood of that thing happening. Sum items: 2, 5, 7, 9 TAF-Likelihood Self – the belief that thinking an unacceptable thought about ourselves makes it more likely to occur. Sum items: 12, 14, 16
Developer
Shafran, R., Thordarson, D. S., & Rachman, S. (1996). Thought–action fusion in obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 10, 379–391.
Number Of Questions
19
References
Lee, H., Cougle, J. R., & Telch, M. J. (2005). Thought–action fusion and its relationship to schizotypy and OCD symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43(1), 29-41. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2003.11.002
Meyer, J. F., & Brown, T. A. (2013). Psychometric evaluation of the Thought–Action fusion scale in a large clinical sample. Assessment, 20(6), 764-775. doi:10.1177/1073191112436670
Developer Reference:
Shafran, R., Thordarson, D. S., & Rachman, S. (1996). Thought–action fusion in obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 10, 379–391.