Validation of a French adaptation of the Thought Control Ability Questionnaire

Abstract

Difficulties controlling one’s thoughts have been related to several psychopathological states and are core issues in clinicalevaluation and treatment. For this reason, Luciano, Algarabel, Tomás, and Martínez (2005) developed the Thought Control AbilityQuestionnaire (TCAQ). The aim of this study was to propose a reliable, valid French version of this questionnaire. To do so, a two-stepmethodology was followed. In a first study, the 25 items of theTCAQ were translated into French, and data were collected from a sampleof undergraduates. The results revealed that two items were problematic in terms of the questionnaire’s face validity and internal consis-tency. In a second study, data were collected using the remaining 23 items with a new sample of undergraduates. This time, the resultsrevealed that the 23-item French TCAQ possesses good internal consistency and very high reliability, and fits with a unidimensionalmodel of thought control ability. Convergent validity was found with measures of worry and obsessive symptoms. The usefulness of theTCAQ as a tool for clinicians and researchers in the field of self-regulation is discussed.