ICQ: Illness Cognition
Questionnaire for chronic
diseases/ ZCL: de Ziekte
Cognitie Lijst
The ICQ was developed to measure
three generic illness cognitions
that reflect different ways of
reevaluating the inherently
aversive character of a chronic
condition: ‘helplessness’ as a way
of emphasizing the aversive
meaning of the disease,
‘acceptance’ as a way to diminish
the aversive meaning, and
‘perceived benefits’ as a way of
adding a positive meaning to the
disease. The ICQ takes about 5
minutes to complete. Each of the
three scales (helplessness,
acceptance and benefits) consists
of 6 items that are rated
according to a 4-point Likert
scale to the extent of agreement
(1= not at all, 2=somewhat, 3= to
a large extent, 4= completely).
Research support the reliable and
valid assessment of these illness
cognitions and indicate the
maladaptive function of
helplessness and the adaptive
function of acceptance and
perceived benefits for the
long-term physical and
psychological health of patients
with a chronic disease. The
three-factor structure and the
clinical usefulness of the
subscale scores was supported in
various groups of patients.
The use of the ICQ is free for
health professionals and
researchers and the questionnaire
is available in a Dutch [article
in .pdf format], English [article in .pdf format],
Finnish [article
in pdf format], Hebrew [article
in
.pdf format], Portugese[article
in jpg format][article
in jpg format], Greek[article
in pdf format] and German [article in .pdf format]
version.
Publications
Evers, A.W.M., Kraaimaat, F.W.,
van Lankveld, W. & Bijlsma,
J.W.J. (1998). De Ziekte Cognitie
Lijst (ZCL) (The Illness Cognition
Questionnaire: ICQ). Gedragstherapie,
31, 205-220 [article
in .pdf format].
Evers, A.W.M., Kraaimaat, F.W.,
van Lankveld, W., Jongen, P.H.J. ,
Jacobs, W.W.G. & Bijlsma,
J.W.J. (2001). Beyond unfavorable
thinking: Illness Cognition
Questionnaire for chronic
diseases. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 69, 6,
1026-1036. [article
in pdf format]
Lauwerier, E., Crombez, G., Van
Damme, S., Goubert, L., Vogelaers,
D. & Evers, A.W.M. (2009). The
construct validity of the Illness
Cognition Questionnaire: The
robustness of the three-factor
structure across patients with
chronic pain and chronic fatigue.
International Journal of
Behavioral Medicine, 17,
90-96[article
in .pdf format].
Publications with the ICQ as a
measurement of illness cognitions
Evers, A.W.M., Kraaimaat, F.W.,
Riel, P.L.C.M. van & Jong
A.J.L. de (2002). Tailored
cognitive-behavioral therapy in
early rheumatoid arthritis for
patients at risk: a randomized
controlled trial. Pain
100, 141-153.
Lu, Y., Duller, P., van der Valk,
P.G.M. & Evers, A.W.M. (2003).
Helplessness as predictor of
stigmatization in patients with
psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Dermatology
and Psychosomatics, 4,
146-150.
Verhaak, C. M., Smeenk, J.M.J.,
Evers, A.W.M., Minnen van, A.,
Kremer, A.J.M. & Kraaimaat,
F.W. (2005). Predicting emotional
response to unsuccessful fertility
treatment: A prospective study. Journal
of Behavioral Medicine 28,
181-90.
Verhaak, C. M., Smeenk, J.M.J.,
van Minnen, A., Kremer, A.J.M.
& Kraaimaat, F.W. (2005). A
longitudinal prospective study on
emotional adjustments before,
during and after consecutive
fertility treatment cycles. Human
Reproduction, 20, 8,
2253-2260.
Deurlo, J.A., Ekkelkamp, S.,
Hartman, E.E., Sprangers, M.A.G.
& Aronson, D.C. (2005).
Quality of life in adult
survivors of correction of
esophageal atresia. Archives
of Surgery, 140, 976-980.
Evers, A.W.M., Lu, Y, Duller, P.,
Valk, P.G.M. van der, Kraaimaat,
F.W. & Kerkhof, P.C.M. van der
(2005). Common burden of chronic
skin diseases? Contributors of
psychological distress in adults
with psoriasis and atopic
dermatitis. British Journal of
Dermatology, 152, 1275-1281.
Hartman, E.E., Oort, F.J.,
Visser, M.R., Sprangers, M.A.,
Hanneman, M.J.G., Langen, Z.J. de,
Heurn, L.W.E. van, Rieu, P.N.M.A.,
Madern, G.C., Zee, D.C. van der,
Looyaard, N., Silfhout-Bezemer, M.
& Aronson, D.C. (2006).
Explaining change over time in
quality of life of adult patients
with anorectal malformations or
Hirschsprung's disease. Diseases
of the Colon & Rectum,
49, 1-8.
Samwel, H.J.A., Evers, A.W.M.,
Kraaimaat, F.W. & Crul, B.J.P.
(2006). The role of helplessness,
fear of pain and pain-coping in
chronic pain patients.
Clinical Journal of Pain,
22, 245-251.
Samwel, H., Kraaimaat, F.W., Crul,
B.J.P. & A.W.M. Evers (2007).
The role of fear-avoidance and
helplessness in explaining
functional disability in chronic
pain: a prospective study. The
International Journal of
Behavioral Medicine, 14,
237-241.
Logie, H., Crombez, G. &
Evers, A.W.M. (2007). De Ziekte
Cognitie Lijst bij chronische
onverklaarde klachten. Psychologie
en Gezondheid, 35, 99-106.
Joosten-Weyn Banningh, L.W.A.,
Kessels, R.P.S., Olde Rikkert,
M.G.M., Geeijns-Lanting, C.E.
& Kraaimaat, F.W. (2008). A
cognitive behavioral group
therapy for patients diagnosed
with mild cognitive impairment and
significant others: feasability
and preliminary results. Clinical
Rehabilitation, 22, 731-740.
Oosterhof, J., Samwel, H., Boo,
T.M. de, Wilder-Smith, O.H.G.,
Oostendorp. R.A.B. & Crul,
B.J.P. (2008). Predicting outcome
of TENS in chronic pain: a
prospective randomized, placebo
controlled trial. Pain,
136, 11-20.
Maas, M., Taal, E. Linden, S. van
der & Boonen, A. (2009). A
review of instruments to assess
illness representations in
patients with rheumatic diseases.
Annals Rheumatic Diseases,
68, 305-309.
Samwel, H.J.A., Kraaimaat, F.W.,
Crul, B.J.P., Dongen, R.D. van
& Evers, A.W.M. (2009).
Multidisciplinairy allocation of
chronic pain treatment: effects of
cognitive-behavioral predictors of
outcome. British Journal of
Health Psychology, 14,
405-421.
Karademas, E. (2010). Illness
cognitions as a pathway between
religiousness and subjective
health in chronic cardiac
patients. Journal of Health
Psychology, 15, 239-247.
Crombez, G. , Viane, I.,
Eccleston, C., Devulder, J. &
Goubert, L. (2012). Attention to
pain and fear in patients with
chronic pain. Journal of
Behavioral Medicine. DOI
10.1007/s10865-012-9433-1.
Boer, L.M., Daudey, L., Peters,
J.B., Molema, J., Prins, J.B.
& Vercoulen, J. (2013).
Assessing the stages of the
grieving process in chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD): Validation of the
Acceptance of Disease and
Impairments Questionnaire.
International Journal of
Behavioral Medicine. DOI
10.1007/s12529-01309312-3.
Casier, A., Goubert, L., Gebbart,
W.A., De Baets, F., Van Aken, S.,
Matthys, D & Crombez, G.
(2013). Acceptance, well-being and
goals in adolescents with chronic
illness: a daily process analysis.
Psychology & Health,
28, 11, 1337-1351.
Earnshaw, V.A., Smith, L.R.,
Chaudoir, S.R., Amico, K.R. &
Copenhaver, M.M. (2013). HIV
stigma mechanisms and well-being
among PLWH: A test of the HIV
stigma framework. Aids and
behavior. DOI
10.1007/s10461-013-0437-9.
Poppe, C., Petrovic, M.,
Vogelaers, D. & Combrez, G.
(2013). Cognitive behavior therapy
in patients with chronic fatigue
syndrome: The role of illness
acceptance and neuroticism. Journal
of Psychosomatic Research,
74, 367-372.
Vriezekolk, J.E., Eijsbouts,
A.M.M., van Lankveld, W.G.J.M.,
Beenackers, H., Geenen, R. &
van den Ende, C.H.M. (2013). An
acceptance-orieneted
cognitive-behavioral therapy in
multimodal rehabilitation: A
pre-post test evaluation in highly
distressed patients with
rheaumatic diseases. Patient
Education and Counseling, 91,
357-363.
Verhoof, E.J.A., Maurice-Stam,
H., Heymans, H.S.A., Evers, A.W.M.
& Grootenhuis, M.A. (2014).
Psycho-social well-being in young
adults with chronic illness since
childhood: The role of illness
cognitions. Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry and
Mental Health, 8, 1, 12.
Sint Nicolaas, S.M., Schepers,
S.A., Bergh, E.M.M. van den,
Evers, A.W.M., Hoogerbrugge, P.M.,
Grootenhuis, M.A. & Verhaak,
C.M. (2016). Ilness cognitions and
family adjustment: psychometric
properties of the Illness
Cognition Questionnaire for
parents of a child with cancer. Supportive
Care in Cancer, 24, 2,
529-537.
Patel, A., Sharma, P.S., Kumar,
P. & Binu, V.S. (2018).
Illness cognitions, anxiety, and
depression in men and women
undergoing fertility treatments: A
dyadic approach. Journal of
Human Reproduction Science, 11,
180-189.
Vries, A.M. de, Helgeson, V.S.,
Schulz, T. et al. (2018). Benefit
finding in renal transplantation
and its association with
psychological and clinical
correlates: A prospective study. British
Journal of Health Psychology.
Doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12346.
Aytar, A., Aykul, A., Alintas, A.
Tigli, A.A. (2019). Reliability
and validity of the Turkish
version of the Illness Cognition
Questionnaire. Experimental
and Aging Research, 45, 4,
1-12.