Validation of the 'How I Think Questionnaire' in a population of French-speaking adolescents with externalizing behaviors.

'How I Think Questionnaire' (HIT) is used to measure self-serving cognitive distortions among delinquents. Previously validated on Americans, this instrument was translated, adapted and validated for French-speaking teens. To assess convergent and discriminant validity, 336 adolescents with externalizing behaviors in Québec (Canada) completed the HIT, the Self-Reported Delinquency Scale (SRD), and the Auto-aggression Questionnaire. There were 165 boys and 171 girls with M(age) = 16.4 years (SD = 0.5) who received services under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (n = 145) or the Youth Protection Act (n = 191). HIT and SRD total scores were correlated (0.51, p < 0.01). On the HIT, past suicidal attempting delinquents were not significantly different than non-suicide attempting delinquents; also delinquents living in closed detention facilities had more self-serving cognitive distortions than delinquents living in open facilities or under probation in the community. This French-language version of the HIT is a reliable and valid measure.