Measuring cognitive distortion in antisocial youth: Development and preliminary validation of the “how I think” questionnaire

The present study describes the development and preliminary validation of the “How I Think” questionnaire (HIT), a new measure of self-serving cognitive distortion. The HIT is based upon Gibbs and Potter's [Gibbs, 1993; Gibbs et al., 1995] four-category typology of cognitive distortion: Self-Centered, Blaming Others, Minimizing/Mislabeling, and Assuming the Worst. The preliminary HIT exhibited high test-retest and internal consistency reliability, and generally good construct validity. Correlations between the HIT and self-reported antisocial or externalizing behavior remained significant after controlling for internalizing disorders [Achenbach, 1991]. The four typological categories performed comparably well. The HIT was partially successful in discriminating criterion groups. The findings are discussed in terms of theory, research, and application.