Measuring negative person evaluations: The evaluative beliefs scale

We report the development and a preliminary analysis of the Evaluative Beliefs Scale (EBS). The EBS measures negative person evaluations, a key class of beliefs within cognitive psychotherapy and thought to be closely linked to emotional disturbance. Three hundred ninety-four members of a UK-based self-help group called Depressives Anonymous completed the EBS and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The EBS was found to have good internal reliability, a clear factor structure and concurrent validity when compared with the HADS. We believe the EBS might have utility for clinical research and practice, not only as an assessment and outcome measure but also for testing hypotheses about connections between cognitions and emotions.