The revised Beliefs About Voices Questionnaire (BAVQ–R)

Abstract

BackgroundWe present a revised Beliefs About Voices Questionnaire (BAVQ–R), a self-report measure of patients' beliefs, emotions and behaviour about auditory hallucinations.AimsTo improve measurement of omnipotence, a pivotal concept in understanding auditory hallucinations, and elucidate links between beliefs about voices, anxiety and depression.MethodsSeventy-one participants with chronic auditory hallucinations completed the BAVQ–R, and 58 also completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.ResultsThe mean Cronbach's α for the five sub-scales was 0.86 (range 0.74–0.88). The study supports hypotheses about links between beliefs, emotions and behaviour, and presents original data on how these relate to the new omnipotence sub-scale. Original data are also presented on connections with anxiety and depression.ConclusionsThe BAVQ–R is more reliable and sensitive to individual differences than the original version, and reliably measures omnipotence.