[Development of the Conscious Defensiveness Questionnaire (CDQ)].

Conscious defensiveness has been found to mediate the relationship between hostility and coronary artery disease. In order to investigate the influence in Japan, the Conscious Defensiveness Questionnaire (CDQ) was developed and its validity and reliability were assessed in the present studies. The first study with college students (N = 419) was conducted to construct the CDQ as a 16-item questionnaire based on two preliminary researches. Factor analysis indicated that the 16 items in the CDQ conform to one factor structure, and the CDQ showed adequate factorial validity as well as high internal consistency. In the second study, the results of test-retest with college students (N = 225) revealed satisfactory stability of the CDQ over a 6- to 7-week period, and furthermore it showed construct validity in the relationships with peer ratings and nominations for college and graduate students (N = 191). Thus the present studies established the CDQ as a standardized questionnaire to measure conscious defensiveness.