Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:45:55.614Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Structural Validity and Reliability of the Spanish Version of the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) in a Sample of the General Spanish Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Manuel González Rodríguez*
Affiliation:
Universidad de la Laguna (Spain)
Pedro Avero Delgado
Affiliation:
Universidad de la Laguna (Spain)
Anna Teresa Rovella
Affiliation:
Universidad de San Luis (Argentina)
Rosario Cubas León
Affiliation:
Universidad de la Laguna (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Manuel González Rodríguez, Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Facultad de Psicología. Campus de Guajara, Universidad de La Laguna, 38205. Tenerife. Comunidad Autónoma de Canaria (Spain). Phone: +34 (922).31 74 65; +34 922 31 65 92 (Ext: 7465). Fax: +34 (922).31 74 61. E-mail: mgonzaro@ull.es

Abstract

This paper introduces the validation of the Spanish adaptation of the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) by Wegner and Zanakos (1994). A sample of 833 people from the general population completed the WBSI along with other questionnaires. The exploratory factor analysis and the confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor solution accounting for 51.8% of the cumulative variance. This structure is comprised of the two following factors: unwanted intrusive thoughts (α = .87, r = .70) and actions of distraction and suppression of thoughts (α = .80, r = .60). Both internal consistency reliability (α = .89) and test-retest reliability (r = .71) showed adequate homogeneity, sound consistency, and stability over time. The results are discussed bearing in mind both isolated factors and the possible relationships of the suppression factor with automatic negative thoughts and insomnia.

Presentamos en este trabajo la validación de la adaptación española del White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) (Inventario de Supresión del Oso Blanco) de Wegner y Zanakos (1994). A una muestra de 833 personas de la población general se le administró el WBSI conjuntamente con otros cuestionarios. Los análisis factoriales exploratorio y confirmatorio aconsejan la retención de una estructura bifactorial que explican el 51,8% de la varianza acumulada. Dicha estructura aísla pensamientos intrusos indeseados (α = 0,87, r = 0,70) y acciones de distracción y supresión de pensamientos (α = 0,80, r = 0,60). Los índices de consistencia interna del total del inventario (α = 0,89) y fiabilidad test-retest (r = 0,71) muestran una adecuadas homogeneidad, sólida consistencia y una adecuada estabilidad temporal. Los resultados se discuten teniendo en cuenta los dos factores aislados y las posibles relaciones del factor de supresión con pensamientos automáticos negativos e insomnio.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, J. S., Tolin, D. F., & Street, G. P. (2001). Paradoxical effects of thought suppression: A meta-analysis of controlled studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 683703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Altin, M., & Gençöz, T. (2007). Persistence of obsessive compulsive symptoms: similarities and contrasts with symptoms of depression in a Turkish sample. Behaviour Change, 24, 146156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.- TR). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Beck, A.T., Steer, R.A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Blumberg, S. J. (2000). The White Bear Suppression Inventory: Revisiting its factor structure. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 943950.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D. A., & Purdon, C. (1995). The assessment of unwanted intrusive thoughts: A review and critique of the literature. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 967976.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark , D. A., & Rhyno, S. (2005). Intrusive thoughts in clinical disorders: Theory, research, and treatment. In Clark, David A. (Ed.). Unwanted intrusive thoughts in nonclinical individuals: Implications for Clinical Disorders. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Erber, R., & Wegner, D. M. (1996). Ruminations on the rebound. In Wyer, R. S. Jr., (Ed.), Ruminative thoughts. Advances in social cognition (pp. 7379). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Farell, L., & Barrett, P. (2006). Obsessive-compulsive disorder across developmental trajectory: Cognitive processing of threat in children, adolescents and adults. British Journal of Psychology, 97, 95114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernández, B. P., Extremera, N., & Ramos, N. (2004). Validity and reliability of the Spanish version of the White Bear Suppression Inventory. Psychological Report, 94, 782784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeston, M. H., Rhéaume, J., Letarte, H., Dugas, M. J., & Ladouceur, R. (1994). Why do people worry? Personality and Individual Differences, 17, 791802.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
González, M., Bethencourt, J. M., Fumero, A., Fernández, A. (2006). Adaptación española del cuestionario ¿Por qué preocuparse? Psicothema, 18, 313318.Google Scholar
González, R. M., Cubas, L. R., Rovella, A. T., & Darias, H. M. (2006). Adaptación española de la Escala de Intolerancia hacia la Incertidumbre: procesos cognitivos, ansiedad y depresión. Psicología y Salud, 16, 219233.Google Scholar
González, M., Ibáñez, I., Cubas, R. (2006). Variables de proceso en la determinación de la ansiedad generalizada y su generalización a otras medidas de ansiedad y depresión, International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 6, 2339.Google Scholar
González, M, Ibañez, I., Diaz, M.C., Fernández-Valdés, A., López-Curbelo, M., & Díaz, F. (1998). Dimensiones psicológicas implicadas en el trastorno de ansiedad generalizada (TAG): Implicaciones para un tratamiento psicológico eficiente. Informe Técnico. Mimeo. Universidad de La Laguna (Spain).Google Scholar
Hodgson, R. J., & Rachman, S. (1977). Obsessional-compulsive complaints. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 15, 389395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Höping, W., & de Jong Meyer, R. (2003). Differentiating unwanted intrusive thoughts from thought suppression: What does the White Bear Suppression Inventory measure? Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 10491055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horn, J. L. (1965). A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis. Psychometrica 30, 179185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ibáñez, I., Peñate, W., González, M., & Cubas, R. (1998). El Inventario de Supresión de Pensamientos (WBSI): Validación española. III Congreso Iberoamericano de Psicología de la Salud. In Ferrer, L.E. (Comps.) (1998). Programa y Libro Resúmenes. Torremolinos, Spain: AEPC, 63.Google Scholar
Ibáñez, I., Olmedo, E., Peñate, W., & González, M. (2002). Obsesiones y compulsiones: la estructura del Inventario de Padua. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 2, 263288.Google Scholar
Julien, D., O'Connor, K. P., & Aardema, F. (2007). Intrusive thoughts, obsessions, and appraisals in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A critical review. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 366383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klinger, E. (1996). The contents of thoughts: Interference as the downside of adaptive normal mechanisms in thought flow. In Sarason, I. G., Pierce, G. R., & Sarason, B. R. (Eds.), Cognitive interference: Theories, methods, and findings (pp. 323). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Luciano, J.V., Belloch, A., Algarabel, S., Tomás, J.M., Morillo, C., & Lucero, M. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis of the White Bear Suppression Inventory and the Thought Control Questionnaire: A comparison of alternative models. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 22, 250258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muris, P., Merckelbach, H., & Horselenberg, R. (1996). Individual differences in thought suppression. The White Bear Suppression Inventory: Factor structure, reliability, validity and correlates. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 3, 501513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagtegaal, M. H., & Rassin, E. (2004). The usefulness of the thought suppression paradigm in explaining impulsivity and aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 12331244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group (2001). Development and initial validation of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire and the Interpretation Intrusions Inventory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 9871005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palm, K. M., & Strong, D. R. (2007). Using item response theory to examine the White Bear Suppression Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 8798.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purdon, C. (1999). Thought suppression and psychopathology. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 10291054.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purdon, C., & Clark, D. A. (2000). White bears and other elusive intrusions: Assessing the relevance of thought suppression for obsessional phenomena. Behavior Modification, 24, 425453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purdon, C., & Clark, D. A. (2001). Suppression of obsession-like thoughts in nonclinical individuals: Impact on thought frequency, appraisal and mood state. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 11631181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purdon, C., Rowa, K., & Antony, M. M. (2005). Thought suppression and its effects on thought frequency, appraisal and mood state in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 93108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rachman, S., & de Silva, P. (1978). Abnormal and normal obsessions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16, 233248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rassin, E. (2003). The White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) focuses on failing suppression attempts. European Journal of Personality, 17, 285298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rassin, E., & Diepstraten, P. (2003). How to suppress obsessive thoughts. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 97103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rassin, E., Merckelbach, H., & Muris, P. (2000). Paradoxical and less paradoxical effects of thought suppression: A critical review. Clinical Psychological Review, 20, 973995.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salkovskis, P. M. (1985). Obsessional-compulsive problems: A cognitive-behavioural analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 571584.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanavio, E. (1988). Obsessions and compulsions: The Padua Inventory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 26, 169177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanz, J., Perdigón, A. L., & Vázquez, C. (2003). Adaptación española del Inventario para la Depresión de Beck-II (BDI-II): propiedades psicométricas en población general. Clínica y Salud, 14, 249280.Google Scholar
Sarason, I. G., Pierce, G. R., & Sarason, B. R. (1996). Domains of cognitive interference. In Sarason, I. G., Pierce, G. R., & Sarason, B. R. (Eds.), Cognitive interference: Theories, methods and findings (pp. 139152). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Spielberger, C. D. (1983). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Tolin, D. F., Abramowitz, J. S., Hamlin, C., Foa, E. B., & Synodi, D. S. (2002). Attributions for thought suppression failure in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 26, 505517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tolin, D. F., Abramowitz, J. S., Brigidi, B. D., & Foa, E. B. (2003). Intolerance of uncertainty in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 17, 233242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tolin, D. F., Abramowitz, J. S., Przeworski, A., & Foa, E. B. (2002). Thought suppression in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 12551274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Velicer, W. F. (1976). Determining the number of components from the matrix of partial correlations. Psychometrica 41, 321327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wegner, D. M. (1989). White bears and other unwanted thoughts, suppression, obsession, and the psychology of mental control. New York: Viking.Google Scholar
Wegner, D. M. (1992). You can't always think what you want: Problems in the suppression of unwanted thoughts. In Zanna, M. (Ed.). Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25). San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Wegner, D. M. (1994). Ironic processes of mental control. Psychological Review, 101, 3452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wegner, D. M., Schneider, D. J., Carter, S. R., & White, T. L. (1987). Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 513.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wegner, D. M., & Zanakos, S. (1994). Chronic thought suppression. Journal of Personality, 62, 615640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wenzlaff, R. M., & Luxton, D. D. (2003). The role of thought suppression in depressive rumination. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 293308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar