Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the White Bear Suppression Inventory and the Thought Control Questionnaire

Abstract

The White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) was developed to assess chronic thought suppression, whereas the Thought Control Questionnaire (TCQ) measures different strategies to suppress unpleasant intrusive thoughts. The present study examines the latent factor structure of these instruments in a sample of 540 normal subjects using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Regarding the WBSI, the CFAs indicated that the tested models did not provide a good fit for the data. Data analysis showed that the TCQ with five factors and 30 items did not reach a reasonable fit. Therefore, in order to present a five-factor structure with an adequate fit, those items with problematic factor loadings were eliminated. Correlational analyses indicated that the WBSI had a significant association with depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and pathological worry, whereas only two TCQ subscales, punishment and worry, were related to these psychopathological symptoms.