Preliminary validation of a stressor-specific rational and irrational belief scales: The surgery beliefs scale (SBS)

Stressor specific irrational beliefs may improve our understanding of distress beyond general irrational belief measures, as they are more specifically related to the stressor. The intent of this paper was twofold: to provide preliminary psychometric information on a stressor-specific measure of rational and irrational beliefs – the Surgery Beliefs Scale (SBS) (Study 1), and to explore the ability of this measure to predict general and surgery-specific pre-surgical distress in women scheduled to undergo breast cancer surgery at a large urban medical center (Study 2). Participants completed well-established measures of general rational and irrational beliefs (SGABS), distress (POMS-SV, IES), as well as the SBS. Results indicated that: (1) the SBS had two interpretable factors – rationality and irrationality; (2) the subscales of the SBS were moderately related to the corresponding subscales of the SGABS; and, (3) the SBS predicted pre-surgical distress. These findings provide preliminary support for the validity of the SBS, argue for the development of stressor-specific measures of rational and irrational beliefs, and suggest that this brief scale be used to better understand pre-surgical distress in patients scheduled for breast surgery.