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Psychometric Properties of the Children’s Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS) in Chinese Adolescents

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Abstract

The Children’s Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS) is a 40-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure children’s negative thoughts. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese translation of the CATS. Participants included 1,993 students (average age = 14.73) from three schools in Mainland China. A subsample of the participants was retested after 4 weeks. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the original structure with four first-order factors loading on a single higher-order factor. The convergent and divergent validity of the CATS were good. The CATS demonstrated high internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Boys scored higher on the CATS-hostility subscale, but there were no other gender differences. Older adolescents (15–18 years) reported higher scores than younger adolescents (12–14 years) on the total score and on the physical threat, social threat, and hostility subscales. The CATS proved to be a reliable and valid measure of automatic thoughts in Chinese adolescents.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Beijing Key Laboratory for Mental Disorders, Capital Medical University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Ling Sun, Xuan Tao, Yulei Yan, Shanshan Wang, Wei Xu & Jianping Wang

  2. School of Education, Beijing Normal University Zhuhai Campus, Zhuhai, People’s Republic of China

    Ling Sun

  3. Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia

    Ronald M. Rapee

  4. Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Jianping Wang

Authors
  1. Ling Sun
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  2. Ronald M. Rapee
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  3. Xuan Tao
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  4. Yulei Yan
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  5. Shanshan Wang
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  6. Wei Xu
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  7. Jianping Wang
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Correspondence to Jianping Wang.

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Sun, L., Rapee, R.M., Tao, X. et al. Psychometric Properties of the Children’s Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS) in Chinese Adolescents. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 46, 600–608 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-014-0500-4

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