Q Array

Abstract

The Q Array, developed by Philip A. Marks in 1961, is a specialized instrument designed to assess the complex personality characteristics of individuals receiving child guidance services, including both the child patients and their parents. The scale was empirically derived by clinical staff from an initial pool of approximately 2,000 items sourced from diverse psychological literature and clinical observations.

The final instrument consists of 135 items, meticulously selected to represent the broad domain of personality relevant to clinical practice for children and adults of both sexes. The items were required to be clinically relevant, ratable by clinic staff, and demonstrate adequate intersubject variability. The item composition reflects a deliberate mixture of descriptive levels: roughly 25% of items are classified as genotypic (underlying traits or causes), while 75% are phenotypic (observable behavior). Importantly, 25% of the items describe nonpathological statements, with 7% being neutral and 18% describing aspects of optimal adjustment, ensuring the array captures a full spectrum of functioning.

Keywords

Child Guidance, Child Psychology, Personality Measures, Q Array, Test Development, Q Sort Methodology, Mental Health Assessment.

Authors

Marks, Philip A.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Q Array is to provide a structured, comprehensive assessment of the personality characteristics observed in a clinical setting. Specifically, it was created for use by clinic staff to evaluate both the child patients receiving treatment and their respective parents within a child guidance context.

The items were designed to facilitate professional evaluation by clinical staff members, allowing for systematic description and comparison of psychological traits across different members of the patient’s family unit.

Construct

The Q Array measures a wide range of psychological phenomena, categorized broadly as Mental Disorders and Personality Characteristics. Given its origin in a child guidance setting, the instrument is sensitive to symptoms and traits associated with various forms of psychopathology, as well as adaptive functioning.

The items span observable behaviors (phenotypic) and underlying psychological traits (genotypic), covering aspects such as ego strength, defense mechanisms (e.g., projection, rationalization, acting out), intrapsychic conflicts (e.g., sexuality, dependency), and various psychopathological features (e.g., schizoid, paranoid, obsessive-compulsive tendencies). The inclusion of items describing optimal adjustment ensures the scale captures a full continuum of personality integration.

Validity

The original source documentation does not explicitly indicate specific empirical data regarding the validity of the Q Array. However, the scale’s development process itself suggests a foundational level of clinical validity, as the 135 items were selected by clinic staff members for their clinical relevance and ratability, ensuring they represented the broad domain of personality suitable for the target population.

Reliability

Specific reliability coefficients (such as test-retest reliability or internal consistency) were not reported in the provided source material from the 1961 study. The development criteria focused on ensuring adequate intersubject variability for both mothers and children, a necessary prerequisite for reliable differentiation among subjects, though formal reliability testing results are absent.

Factor Analysis

Information regarding factor analysis or underlying dimensional structure of the Q Array was not indicated in the available documentation from the 1961 development study. The scale functions primarily as a comprehensive Q Sort instrument designed for clinical description rather than a factorially pure inventory.

Instrument

Test Type: Q Sort (Q Array)

Format: 135 items (Designed for rating/sorting by clinicians)

Language Available: English (Implied)

Population Group: Human

Age Group: Children and Adults (Parents)

Population Details: Sample: Child Guidance Patients and Their Parents

Test Methodology: Test Development (Empirical item selection process)

Keywords

Psychiatry, Test Construction, Personality Assessment, Genotypic Features, Phenotypic Features, Clinical Rating Scale, Mental Health/Illness Related Assessment.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not Available

Affiliation Email addresses: Not Available

Correspondence Address: Not Available

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Q Array was developed in 1961 by Philip A. Marks.

According to the source documentation, the instrument may be used for Research/Teaching purposes. Information regarding commercial fees or licensing requirements is not specified here.

Reference’s

Marks, P. A. (1961). An assessment of the diagnostic process in a child guidance setting. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 75(3), 1–41. The original reference, detailing the development and initial use of the Q Array, can be accessed via the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093768

Items of the Q Array

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

• 1. Reports difficulty in thinking (e.g., cannot concentrate).
• 2. Tends to be ruminative and overideational.
• 3. Obsessive thinking present.
• 4. Is perfectionistic: is compulsively meticulous.
• 5. Is socially extraverted (outgoing).
• 6. Manifests hypochondriacal tendencies, i.e., is excessively concerned about physical condition and
• functioning, is hypersentive to and overevaluates little pains and dysfunctions.
• 7. Is self-dramatizing: histrionic.
• 8. Is excitable.
• 9. Complains of weakness or is easily fatigued.
• 10. Has feelings of hopelessness.
• 11. Has a high aspiration level for self: is ambitious, wants to get ahead.
• 12. Judges self and others in conventional terms like “popularity,” “the correct thing to do,” “socialpressures,” etc.
• 13. Tends to arouse liking and acceptance in people.
• 14. Has a rapid personal tempo: thinks, talks, moves at a fast rate.
• 15. Is cheerful.
• 16. Is vulnerable to real or fancied threat: generally fearful, is a worrier.
• 17. Experiences difficulty in giving orders or making demands and requests of others.
• 18. Has “diagnostic” insight: awareness of the descriptive features of own behavior. (Examples: that certain symptoms are neurotic, that one is not liked by others, that one tends to distort in certain ways; that one is depressed, that one shows poor judgment in such-and-such ways, that one underachieves.)
• 19. Exhibits good heterosexual adjustment.
• 20. Is demanding: tends to take the attitude “the world owes me a living,” “I have a right to be taken care of,” etc.
• 21. Is unpredictable and changeable in behavior and attitudes.
• 22. Is egocentric, self-centered, selfish: seeks need-gratifications (“how will this affect me?) with little regard for the happiness and well-being of others.
• 23. Appears to be poised, self-assured, socially at ease.
• 24. Is defensive about admitting psychological conflicts: tries to avoid revealing self as having psychological conflicts and emotional distresses.
• 25. Delusional thinking is present.
• 26. Has grandiose ideas (extreme is delusions of grandeur).
• 27. Seeks out and tries to relate to parent figures.
• 28. Is resentful.
• 29. Exhibits psychotic tendencies.
• 30. Exhibits depression (manifest sad mood).
• 31. Tends to delay or avoid action: fears committing self to any definite course, is indecisive, vacillating.
• 32. Is evasive.
• 33. Is irritable.
• 34. Tends to transfer blame.
• 35. Demands sympathy from others.
• 36. Behaves considerately towards others.
• 37. Is argumentative.
• 38. Presents self as being physically, organically sick.
• 39. Is suggestable: overly responsive to other people’s evaluations rather than own.
• 40. Tends to be rebellious and nonconforming.
• 41. Thinks and associates in unusual ways: has unconventional thought processes (extreme is illogical, confused, or bizarre).
• 42. Is apathetic.
• 43. Has inner conflict about sexuality (distinguish from reality problems in this area).
• 44. Has inner conflict about emotional dependency (distinguish from reality problems in this area).
• 45. Utilizes acting out as a defense mechanism.
• 46. Reacts to frustration intropunitively (i.e., punishes self).
• 47. Utilizes regression as a defense mechanism.
• 48. Exhibits evidence of narcissism (latent or manifest).
• 49. Has conflicts about giving,
• 50. Has good verbal-cognitive insight into own personality structure and dynamics, and has a real “feeling” for these insights. Insight not defended against by isolation intellectualization.
• 51. Has a need to affiliate with others: i.e., to form friendships and associations, to greet and converse sociably with others, to join various groups, etc.
• 52. Has inner conflicts about self-assertion (distinguished from reality problems in this area).
• 53. Fears loss of control, feels need to keep rigid check on own emotional responses: cannot “let go” even when appropriate.
• 54. Utilizes projection as a defense mechanism.
• 55. Has a need to achieve: to overcome obstacles, to exercise power, to strive to do something difficult as well and as quickly as possible (this is an elementary ego need which may alone prompt action or be fused with any other need).
• 56. Is retentive: has a need to retain possession of things; to refuse to give or lend; to hoard; to be frugal, economical, and miserly.
• 57. Places value on intellectual and cognitive activities, skills, and attitudes.
• 58. Utilizes rationalization as a defense mechanism.
• 59. Defenses are fairly adequate in relieving psychological distress.
• 60. Tends toward overcontrol of needs and impulses: binds tensions excessively, delays gratification unnecessarily.
• 61. Utilizes intellectualization as a defense mechanism.
• 62. Life has included rewarding socialization experiences.
• 63. Would be organized and adaptive when under stress or trauma.
• 64. Has a resilient ego-defense system: has a safe margin of integration, adequate self-control.
• 65. Values wealth or material possessions and judges self and others in terms of them.
• 66. Gets appreciable “secondary gain” from symptoms (i.e., symptoms function to get person out of painful, difficult, or stressful situations in a socially acceptable way or are otherwise rewarding via their manipulations of external-relations).
• 67. Characteristically pushes and tries to stretch limits: sees what can be gotten away with.
• 68. Is self-defeating: places self in an obviously bad light.
• 69. Is nervous, tense in manner: trembles, sweats, or shows other manifest signs of anxiety.
• 70. Is distrustful of people in general: questions their motivations.
• 71. Is readily dominated by others: is submissive.
• 72. Spends a good deal of time in personal fantasy and daydreams: fictional speculations.
• 73. Keeps people at a distance: avoids close interpersonal relationships.
• 74. Is sensitive to anything that can be construed as a demand.
• 75. Accepts others as they are: is not judgmental.
• 76. Is able to sense other person’s feelings: is an intuitive, empathetic person.
• 77. Is protective of those close to self (placement of this item expresses behavior ranging from overprotection through appropriate nurturance to laissez-faire, unstructuring attitudes).
• 78. Is critical, not easily impressed, skeptical.
• 79. Genotype has psychopathic features.
• 80. Genotype has schizoid features.
• 81. Genotype has hysteroid features.
• 82. Genotype has paranoid features.
• 83. Genotype has obsessive-compulsive features.
• 84. Shows concern over reputation.
• 85. Feels there is social stigma attached to clinic contact.
• 86. Is a serious person who tends to anticipate problems and difficulties, and to look at the “dark side” of things.
• 87. Is concerned about the qualifications of various staff members.
• 88. Seems unable to express own emotions in any modulated, adaptive way.
• 89. There are many “positives” in this case.
• 90. Presents a favorable prognosis.
• 91. Is overanxious about minor matters and reacts to them as if they were real emergencies.
• 92. Is a shy, anxious, and inhibited person.
• 93. Resorts to escape into fantasy.
• 94. Has unresolved Oedipal problems.
• 95. Tends to be flippant both in word and gesture.
• 96. Is open and frank in discussing problems.
• 97. Has a need to think of self as an unusually self-sufficient person.
• 98. Has a tenuous hold on reality.
• 99. Has shown ability to talk about conflicts in most areas.
• 100. Would be threatened by interpretations given early in therapy.
• 101. Is suffering from feelings of rejection.
• 102. Has a relatively mature superego.
• 103. Tends not to become involved in things: passively resistant.
• 104. Is stereotyped and unoriginal in approach to problems.
• 105. Undercontrols own impulses: acts with insufficient thinking and deliberation.
• 106. Gets along well in the world as it is: is socially appropriate in own behavior, keeps out of trouble (to be considered as conceptually separate from person’s intrapsychic state).
• 107. Is tearful and/or cries openly.
• 108. Emphasizes oral pleasures: is self-indulgent.
• 109. Is consciously guilt-ridden: self-condemning, self-accusatory.
• 110. Doesn’t seem to be particularly afraid of anything.
• 111. Is tense, high-strung, jumpy: has an over readiness to respond with startle or apprehension to unexpected stimulation.
• 112. Consistently avoids being put in any situation where own performance will be inferior to that of the others.
• 113. Expresses impulses by specific verbal “acting out” (e.g., scolding, yelling, cursing, etc.).
• 114. Exhibits manneristic behavior (tapping on table, biting lips, biting nails, wringing hands, etc.).
• 115. Is afraid of emotional involvement with others.
• 116. Has a wish (conscious or unconscious) to kill people who thwart self in any way.
• 117. Has a wish (conscious or unconscious) to take others’ possessions from them.
• 118. Undervalues and consistently derogates the opposite sex.
• 119. Psychic conflicts are represented in somatic symptoms.
• 120. Handles anxieties and conflicts by refusing to recognize their presence.
• 121. Possesses a basic insecurity and need for attention. Search for “love” is a compulsive or neurotic search for security.
• 122. Overreacts to danger or makes emergency responses in the absence of actual danger.
• 123. Is made anxious or disturbed by impulses to commit a criminal act or hostile act (e.g., desire to stab, beat, or kill someone, to set a fire, to mutilate an animal).
• 124. Fears of phobias present (include all the common fears such as claustrophobia, school phobia, etc.). Continuum ranging from slight anxiety to severe inhibition of activity because of the fears.
• 125. Has superior intellectual ability (based on clinical observations of functioning level only ).
• 126. Repressive mechanism functions adequately.
• 127. Easy to talk to and get along with in this kind of relationship.
• 128. Has the capacity for forming close interpersonal relationships.
• 129. Has an exaggerated need for affection.
• 130. Ego strength (continuum ranging from severe ego weakness through moderate strength to exceptionally strong ego development).
• 131. Has obsessional character problems.
• 132. Has developed defenses which themselves cause suffering.
• 133. Is a reliable informant.
• 134. Is provocative.
• 135. Is “normal,” healthy, symptom free (psychologically).