Reliability and Validity of Five Interpretation Bias Measures for Depression

Research has shown that interpretation bias is associated with depressive symptoms. Specifically, individuals with depressive symptoms tend to have more negative interpretation bias (Butler & Matthews, 1983). However, these findings are largely based on direct measures, which are susceptible to response bias and demand characteristics (Hindash & Amir, 2011). Hence, relying only on direct measures potentially limits the validity of the findings. On the other hand, studies using indirect measures have produced mixed results regarding the association between interpretation biases and depression (Foland-Ross & Gotlib, 2012). The objective of the present study is to examine whether the relationship between interpretation bias and depressive symptoms varies based on differences in reliability and validity. It will compare five commonly used tasks. The Ambiguous Scenarios Task (AST), the Scrambled Sentence Task (SST), the Original and New Word Sentence Association Paradigm (WSAP), and the Probe Scenarios Task (PST). By using multiple assessment methods, the study aims to provide a clearer understanding of the association and determine whether its strength remains consistent or varies across different measurement types.