Psychometric Properties of the Turkish version of Looming Maladaptive Style Questionnaire (LMSQ) (Turkish)

Altan Atalay, Ayşe; Sarıtaş Atalar, Dilek · 2018 · Crossref

DOI: 10.5505/kpd.2017.44227

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Summary

This study addresses the need for cognitive vulnerability models specific to anxiety, as existing research has predominantly focused on depression or explained anxiety through its overlap with depressive symptoms. The authors aim to adapt the Looming Maladaptive Style Questionnaire-Revised (LMSQ-R) into Turkish and evaluate its psychometric properties. The Looming Cognitive Style (LCS) model posits that individuals with anxiety-specific vulnerability perceive environmental threats as growing, approaching, and intensifying over time, leading to hypervigilance and catastrophic interpretation. This dynamic perception distinguishes LCS from static cognitive factors like anxiety sensitivity, which correlate with both anxiety and depression. The study sample consisted of 657 university students aged 18–29 (363 female, 292 male). Participants completed the Turkish version of the LMSQ-R, alongside measures of anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), and depression (Beck Depression Inventory). A subset of 60 participants completed the LMSQ-R again after four weeks to assess test-retest reliability. The scale adaptation followed a translation-backtranslation procedure involving a jury of bilingual experts. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted using AMOS to verify the original two-factor structure comprising "social looming" and "physical looming." Results confirmed the two-factor structure of the LMSQ-R in the Turkish sample, with good model fit indices (CFI=.963, GFI=.923, RMSEA=.061). All factor loadings exceeded .70, and Average Variance Extracted values were satisfactory (.76 for physical, .74 for social). Internal consistency was high, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from .85 to .90. Test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .69 to .72. The LMSQ-R scores showed moderate to high correlations with anxiety and worry measures. While the scale also correlated significantly with depression, partial correlation analyses revealed that this relationship disappeared when anxiety was controlled, supporting the specificity of looming cognitive style to anxiety rather than depression. Discriminant validity was further supported by significant differences in LMSQ-R scores between high and low anxiety/depression groups. The findings establish the Turkish LMSQ-R as a valid and reliable instrument for assessing looming cognitive style. The study reinforces the theoretical distinction between anxiety and depression by demonstrating that looming vulnerability is specifically linked to anxiety, unlike other cognitive factors that overlap with both disorders. This tool enables future research to investigate the role of dynamic threat perception in the onset and maintenance of anxiety disorders, potentially informing targeted therapeutic interventions. The authors note limitations regarding the non-clinical student sample and self-report methodology, suggesting future studies include clinical populations and behavioral measures.

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• dbq psychometrics