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

Objectives: Most of the studies that examine cognitive vulnerability tend to focus on cognitive vulnerability for depression and explain anxiety through its intersection with depression. Looming Cognitive Style (LCS) was suggested as a cognitive vulnerability model that is specific for anxiety. According to the model, people who have looming vulnerability tend to evaluate the threats coming from the environment as more overwhelming than they actually are and are constantly hypervigilant to the threat cues that may come from the environment. This pattern plays an important role in both generation and maintenance of anxiety disorders. A two-factor looming vulnerability scale was developed to assess looming cognitive style and the present study aims to adapt the scale into Turkish and examine its psychometric characteristics. Method: The sample is composed of 657 university students between the ages of 18 and 29. The participants were administered LMSQ-R as well as scales that assess anxiety, depression, and worry. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis results supported the original factor structure of the scale providing two distinct, but correlated factors as social and physical looming. In addition to that, total score and subscale scores had moderate to high correlations with other study variables and reliability scores appearing close to the original form provides support for the reliability of the scale. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the LMSQ-R is a reliable and valid scale that can be used with Turkish population.