ASSESSING HOSTILE AUTOMATIC THOUGHTS - DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE HAT SCALE

Similar to the measurement of automatic thoughts in depressed persons (Hollon & Kendall, 1980), the Hostile Automatic Thoughts (HAT) Scale w as developed and validated as a 30-item self-report index. Comprised o f three components, the HAT Scale reflects recurring hostile thoughts that involve physical aggression (11 items), derogation (20 items), an d revenge (9 items) toward other people. In a first study, the procure ment of an item pool reflecting a full away of hostile thoughts is des cribed, along with exploratory factor analysis, item selection, intern al reliability and convergent and discriminant validation information. In a second cross-validational study, the factor structure is substan tiated via confirmatory factor analyses, as is the internal reliabilit y, and the convergent and discriminant validity The findings related t o the HAT Scale are reviewed, including its use as a stare, trait, or situation-specific index.