Worry Beliefs Scale: A Scale Development Study

Abstract

According to Metacognitive Therapy, worry beliefs are an important concept, especially in the formation of generalized anxiety disorder. This study aimed to develop a worry belief scale for university students. The scale development process involved several key steps to ensure its validity and reliability. Initially, qualitative interviews informed the creation of an item pool, which was refined through expert feedback. The scale was then administered, and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to identify the factor structure, followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to validate this structure. After establishing structural validity, criterion validity was assessed, and reliability was measured using an appropriate coefficient. Following these analyses, the Worry Belief Scale was finalized with 27 items across three dimensions, demonstrating strong psychometric properties. The dimensions were named positive beliefs, dangerousness and harmfulness beliefs, and uncontrollability beliefs, respectively. The worry belief scale was applied to a different sample and examined whether worry beliefs differed according to the gender variable. A significant difference was found in the positive beliefs dimension according to the gender variable. The findings obtained were discussed in the light of the literature.