Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire (CD-Quest)
Assess the frequency and intensity of 15 common thinking traps over the past week
Your brain can play tricks on you. We all have automatic thinking patterns that quietly distort how we see reality. The CD-Quest is a 15-item self-report tool covering 15 common cognitive distortions - all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, mind reading, and more. It measures how often these patterns showed up over the past week and how intense they were. Takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Note: This is a screening tool, not a diagnostic instrument.
Is Your Brain Playing Tricks on You?
We all talk to ourselves constantly. The problem is, most of the time we don't notice we're doing it. Cognitive distortions are those automatic thinking patterns that quietly twist how we see reality -- making small problems look like disasters, random events seem like patterns, and criticism feel like total rejection.
The CD-Quest (Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire) is a 15-item self-report tool that covers the most common cognitive distortions. Brazilian psychologist Irismar Reis de Oliveira put this list together. For each distortion, you rate how often it showed up over the past week and how much you believed it at the time.
The 15 Cognitive Distortions
- All-or-Nothing Thinking — Seeing things in black-and-white categories
- Catastrophizing — Expecting the worst possible outcome
- Disqualifying the Positive — Discounting positive experiences
- Emotional Reasoning — Assuming feelings reflect reality
- Labeling — Attaching global negative labels to yourself or others
- Magnification/Minimization — Blowing things out of proportion or shrinking them
- Mental Filter — Focusing on one negative detail exclusively
- Mind Reading — Assuming you know what others are thinking
- Overgeneralization — Drawing sweeping conclusions from a single event
- Personalization — Blaming yourself for events outside your control
- "Should" Statements — Criticizing yourself or others with rigid rules
- Tunnel Vision — Seeing only the negative aspects of a situation
- Unfavorable Comparisons — Comparing yourself to others who seem better off
- What If? — Repeatedly asking "what if" about worst-case scenarios
- Blaming — Holding others responsible for your emotional state
How to Use This
Rate each distortion on how often you've experienced it over the past week (0 = Never, 4 = Very Often) and how much you believed it at the time (0 = Not at all, 4 = Completely). The total score will show which distortions are most active for you right now.
Why This Matters
Cognitive distortions are not character flaws — they are mental habits. And like any habit, they can be noticed, challenged, and changed. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is built on the idea that recognizing these patterns is the first step toward changing them.
Disclaimer
This test is for educational and self-assessment purposes only. It does not constitute a diagnosis or a substitute for therapy.
Scoring Guide
Total score=sum of 15 items (0-5 each), range 0-75. Higher scores indicate more frequent cognitive distortions. Severity: 0-15 mild, 16-30 moderate, 31-45 moderately severe, 46-75 severe. Single-factor, α=.88 (Morrison et al., 2015).Result Interpretation
After completing the 15 questions, you'll receive an immediate, detailed report with:
- Your score — calculated automatically based on your responses
- Score interpretation — what your score means in practical terms
- Context — how your results compare to general population norms where available
All results are displayed on screen. No account or login needed.