Compassion Questionnaire towards Self (CQS)

Abstract

The Compassion Questionnaire towards Self (CQS), developed by Khoury, Vergara, Spinelli et al. (2023), serves as a robust psychometric instrument for the assessment of self-compassion. Developed concurrently with the Compassion Questionnaire towards Others (CQO), the CQS aims to operationalize self-compassion by rooting it in four distinct, cultivable skill dimensions: affective, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal. The development process was rigorous, involving consultation with field experts and graduate students to generate an initial 36-item measure. This process ensured high item specificity and clarity, focusing on single emotions, cognitions, or behaviors. After content validity analysis, the measure was tested across three studies utilizing Canadian adult samples. Ultimately, factor analysis supported a streamlined 20-item instrument structured across three principal dimensions, demonstrating strong evidence for its overall reliability and validity.

Keywords

Self-Compassion, Compassion, Affective Skills, Cognitive Skills, Behavioral Skills, Interpersonal Connection, Psychological Assessment, Psychometrics.

Authors

Khoury, Bassam; Vergara, Rodrigo C.; Spinelli, Christina.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CQS is to provide a comprehensive operationalization of compassion towards self. This definition frames compassion not merely as a trait, but as measurable sets of affective, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal skills or abilities. A key distinction in the development of the CQS is its independence from the construct of mindfulness, allowing researchers and clinicians to specifically target and measure the active components of self-compassion for training and therapeutic intervention.

Construct

The CQS measures self-compassion based on a multidimensional model that defines the construct through specific skill sets. These skills are grouped into four initial theoretical dimensions—affective, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal—which are intended to be teachable and trainable. The finalized 20-item structure, supported by factor analysis, reorganized these skills into three empirically supported subscales:

• Thinking and Feeling Compassionately (Reflecting cognitive and affective engagement).
• Connection with Others (The interpersonal dimension of shared humanity).
• Acting Compassionately (The behavioral dimension of offering support to oneself).

Validity

The validation studies provided comprehensive evidence supporting the structural and external validity of the CQS.

Construct Validity

The results derived from the factor analysis provided strong support for the structural validity of the measure, confirming that the 20 items successfully load onto the proposed three-factor model. This structural integrity validates the instrument’s ability to measure the intended underlying dimensions of self-compassion.

Convergent and Discriminant Validity

The CQS demonstrated expected patterns of association with other psychological measures. The “Thinking and Feeling Compassionately” dimension showed a medium correlation with related constructs, while the “Connection with Others” (interpersonal) dimension showed a medium-to-low correlation. The “Acting Compassionately” dimension exhibited the weakest association with external constructs, suggesting its distinctiveness.

Regarding clinical symptomatology, all CQS subscales were generally associated with lower levels of distress. The CQS subscales exhibited the strongest inverse associations with established measures of negative affect and stress, including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1983), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS-GEN; Watson et al., 1988). The “Thinking and Feeling Compassionately” subscale showed the highest associations with reduced symptomatology, whereas the “Connection with Others” subscale exhibited the lowest associations (r <= -0.20).

Reliability

Internal Consistency

The internal consistency of the CQS was evaluated using Cronbach’s Alpha and Total Omega statistics, demonstrating adequate to good reliability across the final three subscales. The internal consistency estimates for the CQS ranged from 0.77 to 0.94. The “Acting Compassionately” subscale consistently presented the lowest, though still acceptable, internal consistencies (Cronbach’s Alpha and Total Omega values were 0.78 and 0.79 across the two split halves of the sample). A split-half cross-validation procedure, combined with bootstrap methods, confirmed the stability and robustness of the three-factor structure and the reliability of the subscale scores.

Factor Analysis

Both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were employed across two independent halves of the Canadian adult sample to establish the factor structure of the CQS.

For the first half of the sample, the EFA solution showed strong fit indices: a Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) of 0.92, a Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of 0.07, a Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SMRMR) of 0.03, and a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of 0.93. This robust three-factor structure was then cross-validated in the second half using CFA. The CFA results also indicated an excellent fit, yielding a Comparative Fit Index (CFI) of 0.95, a TLI of 0.95, an RMSEA of 0.06, and an SMR of 0.04. The stability of these diagnostics across both EFA and CFA procedures strongly indicates an adequate and stable fit for the proposed three-factor structure of the CQS.

Instrument

Test Type: Original psychometric scale

Format: Items are rated on a Likert scale, ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always).

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human (Male and Female)

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years & older), including Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), Middle Age (40-64 years), and Aged (65 years & older).

Population Details: The scale was developed and validated using adult participants and university students in Canada.

Test Methodology: The development and validation involved extensive psychometric procedures, including Test Validity (Content Validity, Construct Validity, Convergent Validity, Discriminant Validity), Test Reliability (Internal Consistency), and Factor Analysis (Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis).

Keywords

Prosocial Behavior, Compassion, Emotional State Measures, Self-Compassion, Social Connectedness, Affective Measures, Psychotherapy Skills.

Authors

Khoury, Bassam

Author ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

Affiliation Email addresses: McGill University, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology; [email protected]

Correspondence Address: McGill University, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1Y2, [email protected]

Vergara, Rodrigo C.

Author ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

Affiliation Email addresses: Universidad San Sebastián, Facultad de Psicología y Humanidades; No data is Available

Correspondence Address: No data is Available

Spinelli, Christina

Author ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

Affiliation Email addresses: McGill University, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology; No data is Available

Correspondence Address: No data is Available

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author (Bassam Khoury)

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

Khoury, B., Vergara, R. C., & Spinelli, C. (2023). Compassion Questionnaires: Scales development and validation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 47(6), 1006–1032. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10416-2

Items of the Compassion Questionnaire towards Self (CQS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The CQS is a 20-item measure. Specific test items are not publicly available in the provided text, but the measure includes items across three factors/subscales: “Thinking and feeling compassionately,” “Connection with others,” and “Acting compassionately.” The items are rated on a Likert scale from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always).