[Validity and reliability of the anticipatory cognition questionnaire. Study Group ACQ. Anticipatory cognition questionnaire].

Abstract

Introduction: From the cognitive perspective, the inability in order to advance the future positively, it is an essential characteristic in the depression. The Anticipatory Cognitions Questionnaire (ACQ), with eight items with a proposal cognitive-anticipatory, has been developed with the objective of detecting cases of depression by means of the screening of the existence of that difficulty of bringing forward.

Material and methods: It have been carried out a multicentric study between Spain and several countries of Spanish America (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela). For it, a Spanish version of the ACQ was used, agreed between the investigators of both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Were interviewed 291 out and in depressed patients (CIE-10), and 158 healthy controls. Evaluated them in four serial occasions (two for the controls), using the ACQ, the Hamilton's and Zung's scales for Depression, and a Global Clinical Impression.

Results: From their outputs seems to deduce that the ACQ has a good internal consistency (alpha = 0.72), elevated temporal reliability (r = 0.81, good screening capacity for depression with a cut-off equal to "7" (kappa = 0.48-0.70), and good sensitivity to change.

Conclusions: Everything it support that ACQ, in their Spanish version, it is an useful instrument for the ends that was developed.