PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF URDU VERSION OF OBSESSIVE BELIEFS QUESTIONNAIRE (OBQ-44) IN PAKISTANI STUDENT POPULATION

Abstract

The study aimed to translate and to explore psychometric properties of Obsessive-Belief Questionnaire-44 (OBQ-44) in Urdu language to make it available for mental health professionals of Pakistan in their practice of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Employing the standard procedures of translation, this study has finalized Urdu version of OBQ-44 (i.e.OBQ-Urdu-44) which has satisfactory cross language validity (r= .87) and internal consistency (α=.87). The scale was reduced to 40 items through Exploratory Factor Analysis with Varimax rotation (EFA), conducted on a sample of 170 college students selected through Convenience sampling, resulted in a three factor structure of the tool which was different from original factor structure of OBQ-44. The factors of OBQ-Urdu-40 were labeled as Obsessive Belief-General (OB-G), Cautious/Vigilant (CV), and Perfectionism (PC) which depicted the 42% of total variance. The OBQ-Urdu-40 have shown satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of reliability (α=.80, .91.86, .78 for total scale, OB-G, CV, & PC, respectively). Conclusively, present study succeeded in provision of a valid and reliable Urdu version of OBQ-44, although the need of exploration of convergent and divergent validity, and its sensitivity to change is highlighted as future research projects.