Negative affectivity in children: Development and validation of a self-statement questionnaire

A questionnaire, the NASSQ (Negative Affect Self-Statement Questionnaire), was developed to assess self-statements associated with negative affect in children and young adolescents. Male and female 7- to 15-year-olds recalled representative self-statements (items) which were then administered to a sample along with a battery of measures used to identify criterion groups. Items discriminating between anxious/nonanxious and depressed/nondepressed criterion groups in separate 7- to 10- and 11- to 15-year-old samples were identified. Each inventory was then cross-validated on new samples. Anxious and depressive self-statement inventories were combined (separately for the age groups) to form the NASSQ. Both the 7- to 10- and the 11- to 15-year-old samples on NASSQ were found to be internally reliable and temporally stable. Additional analyses supported concurrent and construct validity. The NASSQ was found to be sensitive, and relatively specific, to an anxiety treatment, particularly with treated 11- to 15-year-olds. The NASSQ appears to be a useful measure to assess self-talk reflecting negative affectivity.