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The Covert and Overt Reassurance Seeking Inventory (CORSI): Development, validation and psychometric analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2020

Adam S. Radomsky Open the ORCID record for Adam S. Radomsky [Opens in a new window] ,
Rachael L. Neal Open the ORCID record for Rachael L. Neal [Opens in a new window] ,
Chris L. Parrish ,
Stefanie L. Lavoie  and
Sarah E. Schell
Adam S. Radomsky*
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Rachael L. Neal
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Chris L. Parrish
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Stefanie L. Lavoie
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Sarah E. Schell
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: Adam.Radomsky@concordia.ca
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Abstract

Background:

Reassurance seeking (RS) is motivated by perceived general and social/relational threats across disorders, yet is often under-recognized because it occurs in covert (i.e. subtle) and overt forms. Covert safety-seeking behaviour may maintain disorders by preventing corrective learning and is therefore important to identify effectively.

Aims:

This study presents the validation and psychometric analyses of a novel measure of covert and overt, general and social/relational threat-related interpersonal RS.

Method:

An initial 30-item measure was administered to an undergraduate sample (N = 1626), as well as to samples of individuals diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD; n = 50), anxiety disorders (n = 60) and depression (n = 30). The data were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and validation analyses.

Results:

An exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring with oblique rotation yielded five interpretable factors, after removing four complex items. The resulting 26-item measure, the Covert and Overt Reassurance Seeking Inventory (CORSI), evidenced good convergent and divergent validity and accounted for 54.99% of the total variance after extraction. Factor correlations ranged from r = .268 to .736, suggesting that they may be tapping into unique facets of RS behaviour. In comparison with undergraduate participants, all clinical groups had significantly higher total scores [t (51.80–840) = 3.92–5.84, p < .001]. The CFA confirmed the five-factor model with good fit following the addition of four covariance terms (goodness of fit index = .897, comparative fit index = .918, Tucker–Lewis index = .907, root mean square error approximation = .061).

Conclusion:

The CORSI is a brief, yet comprehensive and psychometrically strong measure of problematic RS. With further validation, the CORSI has potential for use within clinical and research contexts.

Keywords

anxietyassessmentdepressionobsessive-compulsive disorder or OCDreassurance seekingvalidation
Type
Main
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 3 - 20
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020

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