Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire

What it measures

Measures the degree to which thoughts are experienced as overwhelming and literally true, making it difficult to act according to values. Cognitive fusion is a core ACT target — the tendency to become entangled with the content of thought.

Response format

Likert (1–7, never to always)

Representative items

• My thoughts cause me distress or emotional pain.
• I get so caught up in my thoughts that I am unable to do the things I most want to do.
• I over-analyse situations to the point where it's unhelpful to me.
• I struggle with my thoughts.
• It's such a struggle to let go of upsetting thoughts even when I know letting go would be helpful.

Usage notes & scoring

Higher scores = greater cognitive fusion (worse). Freely available from David Gillanders. Used as both process and outcome measure in ACT research. Strong negative correlations with MAAS and AAQ-II confirm convergent validity.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Gillanders, D.T., et al. (2014). The development and initial validation of the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire. Behavior Therapy, 45(1), 83–101.

Keywords