Psychometric evaluation of the English version of the Extended Post-event Processing Questionnaire

Abstract

Background: The importance of post-event processing (PEP) in prominent models of social anxiety disorder has led to the development of measures that tap this cognitive construct. The 17-item Extended Post-event Processing Questionnaire (E-PEPQ) is one of the most comprehensive measures of PEP developed to date. However, the measure was developed in German and the psychometric properties of the English version of the E-PEPQ have not yet been examined. Design: The current study examined the factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity of the English version of the E-PEPQ. Methods: English-speaking participants (N = 560) completed the English version of the E-PEPQ, a measure of social anxiety and a measure of depression. Results: A 15-item version of the E-PEPQ with a correlated three-factor structure (referred to as the E-PEPQ-15) emerged as the best fitting model using confirmatory factor analyses, and the E-PEPQ-15 and its subscales demonstrated good internal consistency. The E-PEPQ-15 and two of its three subscales also had significantly stronger positive associations with the social anxiety measure than with the depression measure. Conclusions: The psychometric properties of the E-PEPQ-15 obtained in the current study justify the use of the measure in research, particularly in the domain of social anxiety.

Keywords:

• post-event processing
• repetitive thinking
• social anxiety
• cognition
• assessment

Notes

1. The term “cognitive impairment” can imply a severe and sometimes longstanding disruption to cognitive functioning (especially in neuropsychological contexts) that does not appear to be appropriate in the current context. Hence, in the subsequent sections of this paper, this factor will be labeled “cognitive interference”.

2. The items loading on this factor actually refer only to the past. Hence, in the subsequent sections of this paper, this factor will be labeled “thoughts about the past”.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship (1037618) awarded to Dr. Quincy J.J. Wong.