Scrambled but valid? The Scrambled Sentences Task as a Measure of Interpretation Biases in Psychopathology: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The Scrambled Sentences Task (SST) is frequently used to assess interpretation biases(IBs). However, neither the range of its applications nor the quality of the empirical evidence itprovides has been systematically examined. This systematic review investigates the types ofsamples and disorders in which the SST has been applied and evaluates its psychometricproperties via a meta-analysis. The databases PubMed and EBSCOhost (including PsycINFO,PsycARTICLES, PSYNDEX, MEDLINE) were examined (last search: September 2021) and 93studies from 91 manuscripts were included. Results showed that the SST has been appliedpredominantly in unselected samples or those with elevated levels of subsyndromal symptoms,with about a third of the studies employing the SST in a clinical population. While the SST wasinitially developed to assess depression-related IBs, it has now been extended to other disorders,in particular anxiety disorders. Results of the meta-analyses indicated good convergent validityand reliability across disorders, albeit in the context of substantial heterogeneity. Findingsconcerning divergent validity were mixed with high correlations across disorders between theSST and trait anxiety in particular, questioning its specificity. Future research should considerdeveloping standardized SST versions and investigating its relationships with other measures ofIB.