The Personality Belief Questionnaire-Short Form: Development and Preliminary Findings

Two studies are reported which document the development and psychometric properties of an abbreviated version of the Personality Belief Questionnaire (PBQ). In the first study, the seven PBQ items with the highest item–total correlations with each PBQ scale were used to construct experimental scales. These scales showed good internal consistency and discriminated five personality disorders as predicted. Items from the experimental scales were then incorporated into a new measure—the PBQ Short Form (SF)—which was administered to an independent sample of psychiatric patients. The PBQ-SF scales showed good reliability and correlated significantly with depression, anxiety, dysfunctional attitudes, neuroticism, self-esteem, and psychosocial functioning. Findings suggest that the overall elevation of a PBQ-SF profile is influenced by a general distress factor, whereas variability of PBQ-SF scales within a profile reveals disorder-specific effects. It is concluded that the PBQ-SF is a practical alternative as a measure of personality disorder beliefs.