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Cited by 122Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesSocial Representations and IdentitySport Psychology and Performance

Mental imagery during daily life: Psychometric evaluation of the Spontaneous Use of Imagery Scale (SUIS)

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Nelis, Sabine, Holmes, Emily A., Griffith, James W., Raes, Filip·2014·Psychologica Belgica
DOI 10.5334/pb.agPMC PMC4538780
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Abstract

The Spontaneous Use of Imagery Scale (SUIS) is used to measure the tendency to use visual mental imagery in daily life. Its psychometric properties were evaluated in three independent samples (total N = 1297). We evaluated the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the questionnaire. We also examined the structure of the items using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, correlations with other imagery questionnaires provided evidence about convergent validity. The SUIS had acceptable reliability and convergent validity. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a unidimensional structure fit the data, suggesting that the SUIS indeed measures a general use of mental imagery in daily life. Future research can further investigate and improve the psychometric properties of the SUIS. Moreover, the SUIS could be useful to determine how imagery relates to e.g. psychopathology.

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  • The SUIS shows convergent validity with related measures and has good test-retest reliability (ICC = .69).

    “The measure shows convergent validity with related measures (Marks, 1973; Sheehan, 1967) and has good test-retest reliability (ICC = .69; Nelis et al., 2014).”

    From I've Seen Enough: Measuring the Toll of Content Moderation on Mental Health (2025) · cites this paper as Nelis et al., 2014

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Authors
Nelis, S., Holmes, E. A., Griffith, J. W., & Raes, F.
Affiliations
  • KU Leuven (BE)
  • MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
  • Northwestern University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Psychologica Belgica
Publisher
Ubiquity Press, Ltd.
Published
2014-01-20
Volume
54
Issue
1
Pages
19-32
ISSN
  • 0033-2879 (ISSN-L)
  • 2054-670X
DOI
10.5334/pb.ag
PMC
PMC4538780
OpenAlex
W2115096504
Cited by
122
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 5 · 2014: 2
FWCI
7.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychologica Belgica (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Psychologica Belgica (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (WT088217, 088217)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Representations and Identity
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
Keywords
mental imagery, visual imagery, everyday life, psychometric properties, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, factor structure, psychopathology

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