National Institute for Health and Care Research

Measure

Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire–Revised (CASQ-R)

Age range 9 — 18
Completion time 10 Minutes
Respondent Self Report
Problem areas
Anxiety Mood Problems Other

Overview

The Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire–Revised (CASQ-R) is a 24-item forced-choice self-report measure designed to assess how children and adolescents explain the causes of positive and negative events. It assesses three dimensions of attributional style—internal versus external, stable versus unstable, and global versus specific—and provides positive-event, negative-event and overall composite scores. The CASQ-R is a shortened version of the original 48-item Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ)developed within the reformulated learned-helplessness model of depression. The revised version was developed because children's limited attention span and use of the CASQ within larger assessment batteries created a need for a shorter measure. The CASQ-R contains: 12 positive-event items (2 Internal–External, 7 Stable–Unstable, 3 Global–Specific) and 12 negative-event items (3 Internal–External, 6 Stable–Unstable, 3 Global–Specific). Each item presents a hypothetical positive or negative event followed by two possible causal explanations. The young person selects the explanation that best represents how they would interpret the event.

Scoring & Interpretation

The CASQ-R contains 24 forced-choice items. Each response represents one pole of a particular attributional dimension while the other two dimensions are held constant. Responses are scored dichotomously (0 or 1) according to whether the selected explanation represents the relevant attributional style. Three principal composite scores can be calculated: Positive Composite (CP): attributional style for positive events. Negative Composite (CN): attributional style for negative events. Overall Composite (CPCN): Positive Composite minus Negative Composite. A lower Positive Composite, higher Negative Composite, and consequently lower Overall Composite indicate a more depressogenic attributional style. Higher overall scores therefore represent a more adaptive/enhancing explanatory style, whereas lower overall scores represent a more pessimistic/depressogenic explanatory style. Separate scores can additionally be considered for Internality, Stability and Globality according to event valence.

Psychometric Properties

Internal Consistency

Internal consistency of the measure have been reported as moderate to low. For example, Thompson et al., (1998) reported the following: Overall Composite: α ≈ .61 Positive Composite: α ≈ .53–.60 Negative Composite: α ≈ .45–.46 Scaini et al (2024) reported lower reliability in an Italian study. After four items with problematic difficulty indices were excluded, Kuder–Richardson (KR-20) coefficients were: Overall Composite: KR-20 = .364 Positive Composite: KR-20 = .316 Negative Composite: KR-20 = .351

Test-Retest Reliability

Thompson et al., (1998) in a six-month follow up found fair/low-to-moderate temporal stability, with weaker stability for negative-event attributions: Overall Composite: r = .53 Positive Composite: r = .53 Negative Composite: r = .38

Factor Structure

The CASQ-R is theoretically organised around three attributional dimensions: • Internal–External • Stable–Unstable • Global–Specific with separate attributional patterns for positive and negative events. Lewis et al. (2014) conducted confirmatory factor analyses in 621 adolescents aged 11–18 years. The study found adequate model fit for a one-factor solution for negative-event items and a two-factor solution for positive-event items

Validity

The original Thompson et al. (1998) study found that the shortened CASQ-R demonstrated criterion-related validity with self-reported depressive symptoms comparable to the original 48-item CASQ.

Scaini et al (2024) replicated these expected associations reporting significant associations between Positive Composite and depression, Negative Composite and depression and Overall Composite and depression. Overall suggesting more depressogenic attributional styles were associated with greater depressive symptoms.

Scaini et al (2024) also provided evidence of associations with anxiety. The Overall Composite correlated significantly with Panic symptoms, Generalised anxiety, Social anxiety/phobia and School phobia.

Measurement Invariance

Not Reported

Access

The complete 24-item CASQ-R is reproduced in Appendix A of Scaini et al. (2024). Permission/licensing for reproducing the original measure should be confirmed with the measure's rights holder/authors.


http://Scaini et al. (2024) – Pediatric Reports

Citation

Original Reference

The revised measure itself is attributed to:

Kaslow, N. J., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1991). Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire–Revised. Emory University, Atlanta, GA.

The principal original published psychometric evaluation is:

Thompson, M., Kaslow, N. J., Weiss, B., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1998). Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire–Revised: Psychometric examination. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 166–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.10.2.166.

References

 

Lewis, S. P., Waschbusch, D. A., Sellers, D. P., LeBlanc, M., & Kelley, M. L. (2014). Factor structure of the Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire–Revised. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 46, 125–133.

Scaini, S., Grazioli, S., Giani, L., Forresi, B., De Francesco, S., & Caputi, M. (2024). Attributional styles and their impact on depressive and anxious symptoms in Italian children: Insights from the Italian Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire-Revised (CASQ-R). Pediatric Reports, 16, 1134–1148. https://doi.org/10.3390/pediatric16040096.

Seligman, M. E. P., Kaslow, N. J., Alloy, L. B., Peterson, C., Tanenbaum, R. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (1984). Attributional style and depressive symptoms among children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 235–238.

Back to Top