Listening to and believing nasty voices questionnaires
A printable PDF version of Listening to and believing nasty voices questionnaires is available for download and use.
The scales are suitable for: Any person who hears voices that make threats or are critical/derogatory towards them. We refer to these as nasty voices. The scales have been validated with data from a participant group who hear nasty voices and have a range of different mental health diagnoses.
Individuals with lived experience of hearing nasty voices collaborated on the design and testing of the scales.
Sheaves, B., Johns, L., Loe, B., Bold, E., Černis, E., The McPin Hearing Voices Lived Experience Advisory
Panel, Molodynski, A., & Freeman, D. (2022). Listening to and Believing Derogatory and Threatening
Voices. Schizophrenia Bulletin
SCORING
Listening and believing - assessment
The listening and believing assessment scale includes four sub-scales: active listening, passive listening, believing and disregarding derogatory and threatening (‘nasty’) voices. Items making up each of these four sub-scales can be totalled to make for example a total ‘believing’ score. The active listening, passive listening and disregarding questions (the first 12 items) can also be summed to create a total ‘listening and believing score’. Here, higher scores indicate a more severe problem with listening to and believing derogatory and threatening voices. The disregarding subscale is the reverse, whereby higher scores indicate a greater ability to disregard or tune out the nasty voices, and lower scores indicate a more severe problem.
Listening and believing – reasons
There are three different versions of this questionnaire:
- The full questionnaire (28 items) is recommended for a comprehensive clinical assessment of the reasons for listening to and believing nasty voices. It can be used to assess individual groups of reasons for listening and believing (e.g. listening to understand the nasty voices; I listen because I’m too worn down etc). The total score of individual sub-scales can be used (listening to understand; being too worn down, etc). Additionally, all items can be summed to create a total reasons for listening and believing score.
- The short form scale (16 items) is comprised of items that are the most predictive items for listening to and believing. These 16 items can be summed to create a total listening and believing - reasons (short form) score.
- The very brief version (5 items) comprises the top five most predictive items for listening to and believing nasty voices, across five different sub-scales. This is designed for a ‘light touch’ assessment of the reasons for listening and believing. The five items can be summed to create a total score.
Listening and believing - Assessment
Below are a range of statements about listening to and believing nasty voices. These are any voices which threaten you or put you down. Please do not consider positive voices, or neutral voices when completing this questionnaire, only those that are threatening or put you down.
Please rate the degree to which you agree with each statement, based on your experience over the past week.
Actively listening to nasty voices
1. I want to keep listening to what the nasty voices have to say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
2. I want to hear what the nasty voices are saying when they start.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
3. I listen hard to the nasty voices to make sure I’ve heard what they are saying.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
4. I listen out for the nasty voices.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
Passively LISTENING TO NASTY VOICES
5. There’s nothing I can do but listen to what the nasty voices say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
6. When the nasty voices start it’s almost impossible to ignore what they say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
7. I take in every word the nasty voices say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
8. I get sucked into the world of the nasty voices.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
Believing NASTY VOICES
9. I believe what the nasty voices say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
10. I have a gut feeling that what the nasty voices are saying is true.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
11. The nasty voices are right in what they say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
12. I’m convinced what the nasty voices say is true.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
Disregarding NASTY VOICES
13. When the nasty voices start, I find a way to ignore them.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
14. I tune out the nasty voices.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
15. I avoid getting sucked into the world of the nasty voices.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
16. I just don’t care what the nasty voices say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
17. What the nasty voices say doesn’t matter to me.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
18. I can brush off all the negative things that the nasty voices say.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
LISTENING AND BELIEVING - Reasons (L&B-R-28)
Below are a range of statements about listening to and believing nasty voices. These are any voices which threaten you or put you down. Please do not consider positive voices, or neutral voices when completing this questionnaire, only those that are threatening or put you down.
Please rate the degree to which you agree with each statement, based on your experience over the past week.
Listening TO UNDERSTAND THEM, TO DEAL WITH THE THREAT
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
1. I’m trying to figure out why this is happening.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
2. It might help me work out who the voices are.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
3. It might help me work out what they could do to me.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
4. I want to be ready to deal with them.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
5. I don’t want to let them win, so I listen to fight them.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
Listening because I’m worn down
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
6. I don’t have the confidence to ignore the nasty voices.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
7. I don’t have the confidence to trust my own mind.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
8. They’ve worn me down, so I have to listen.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
9. I feel defeated by them.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
10. I’m so anxious that I can’t do anything but listen.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
11. I don’t have the energy to do anything but listen to them.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I Listen to the nasty voices because I might learn something helpful
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
12. Listening to the voice will help me to learn about myself.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
13. The voice knows more than I do so I might learn something.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
14. Listening will make me smart, because the voices are smart.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
15. Listening to voices is important to my spiritual or cultural beliefs.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I SPEND TIME BY MYSELF SO I HAVE TIME AND SPACE TO LISTEN
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
16. I spend time by myself so there’s nothing else to listen to.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
17. I spend time by myself so there are no distractions from what they say.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
18. I spend time by myself so I have time to listen to them.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
THE NASTY VOICES USE STRATEGIES TO CAPTURE MY ATTENTION
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
19. They are putting on a performance for me.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
20. They are whispering (or very quiet) so I have to listen harder to hear what they are saying.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
21. They lull me into a false sense of security by saying nice things, so I start to trust them and listen to what they say.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
22. They’re intelligent and trick me into listening.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
23. They tell a convincing story that sucks you in to their world.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
THEY ARE JUST LIKE REAL PEOPLE
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
24. They are just like real people.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
25. They sound so real.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
26. They’re unpredictable and come out of no-where.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I HEAR THE VOICE OF SOMEONE I KNOW
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
27. I hear the voice of someone I know, and I want to work out why they are saying horrible things when they are usually nice.
0 Never
1 A bit of the time
2 Most of the time
3 All of the time
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
28. I hear the voice of someone I know, and I usually believe that person so I’m more likely to be convinced by what they say.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
LISTENING AND BELIEVING - REASONS (L&B-R-16)
Below are a range of statements about listening to and believing nasty voices. These are any voices which threaten you or put you down. Please do not consider positive voices, or neutral voices when completing this questionnaire, only those that are threatening or put you down.
Please rate the degree to which you agree with each statement, based on your experience over the past week.
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
1. It might help me work out who the voices are.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
2. I spend time by myself so I have time to listen to them.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
3. They sound so real.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
4. I don’t have the confidence to ignore the nasty voices.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
5. They tell a convincing story that sucks you in to their world.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
6. I’m trying to figure out why this is happening.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
7. I’m so anxious that I can’t do anything but listen.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
8. It might help me work out what they could do to me.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
9. They’ve worn me down, so I have to listen.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
10. I don’t have the confidence to trust my own mind.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
11. Listening to the voice will help me to learn about myself.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
12. They are just like real people.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
13. They are whispering (or very quiet) so I have to listen harder to hear what they are saying.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
14. The voice knows more than I do so I might learn something.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
15. I spend time by myself so there’s nothing else to listen to.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me
I pay attention to what the nasty voices say because…
16. I feel defeated by them.
0 Not true for me
1 A bit true for me
2 Some what true for me
3 Mostly true for me
4 Totally true for me