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Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ)3

Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) Test

Understand how you cope with intrusive thoughts in about 5 minutes. Get clear scores across key avoidance strategies to support targeted therapy and better self-awareness.

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Questions: 255 minutes

08:30

September 1, 2026

September 1, 2026
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

19,570 views

2,374 completions

1,887 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

13/25

Transformation of Images Into Thoughts (ToIIT)

Measures how often a person reduces emotional impact by converting distressing mental images into more abstract verbal thoughts.

Low use

High use

5 – 16: Low use | 17 – 25: High use

A score of 13 falls in the Low use range, suggesting this strategy is used relatively infrequently compared with higher scores.

example score

16/25

Avoidance of Threatening Stimuli (AoTS)

Measures how strongly a person tends to avoid situations, cues, or thoughts that feel threatening or anxiety-provoking.

Low avoidance

High avoidance

5 – 16: Low avoidance | 17 – 25: High avoidance

A score of 16 falls in the Low avoidance range, suggesting limited tendency to avoid anxiety-provoking triggers compared with higher scores.

example score

17/25

Distraction (D)

Measures how often a person copes with unpleasant internal experiences by shifting attention to other activities or thoughts.

Low

Moderate

High

5 – 16: Low | 17 – 18: Moderate | 19 – 25: High

A score of 17 suggests a moderate tendency to use distraction by redirecting attention away from unpleasant thoughts or feelings.

example score

13/25

Thought Substitution (TS)

Measures how often a person replaces anxious or unpleasant thoughts with more neutral or positive ones.

Low use

High use

5 – 14: Low use | 15 – 25: High use

A score of 13 suggests a relatively low tendency to replace unpleasant thoughts with more neutral or positive alternatives.

example score

13/25

Thought Suppression (TS)

Measures how often a person tries to push unwanted thoughts out of awareness when experiencing internal discomfort.

Low

High

5 – 18: Low | 19 – 25: High

A score of 13 falls in the Low range, suggesting thought suppression is used relatively infrequently as a coping strategy for intrusive thoughts.

example score

45/125

Cognitive Avoidance Scale (CAS)

Measures the overall tendency to manage distressing internal experiences by using cognitive avoidance strategies such as suppression, substitution, distraction, and avoiding triggers.

Low

High

25 – 78: Low | 79 – 125: High

A score of 45 falls in the Low range, suggesting a relatively lower overall reliance on cognitive strategies to avoid unpleasant or threatening thoughts.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Intrusive-thought strugglers

41%OF USERS

People bothered by recurring unwanted thoughts who want to see whether they cope by suppressing, distracting, or mentally shifting away from them.

Therapy-focused self improvers

34%OF USERS

Individuals currently in counseling or self-help work who want clearer insight into their avoidance patterns to choose more effective coping strategies.

Psychology and research users

25%OF USERS

Students, clinicians, and researchers who use brief measures to profile cognitive defenses and track changes over time.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Transformation of Images into Thoughts (ToIiT)

Average

Normal range

15.3 — 20.7

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Avoidance of Threatening Stimuli (AoTS)

Average

11.4

Normal range

8.5 — 14.3

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Distraction (D)

Average

13.4

Normal range

10.8 — 16.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Replacing Thoughts (RT)

Average

15.9

Normal range

13.4 — 18.4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Thought Suppression (TS)

Average

19.9

Normal range

16.5 — 23.3

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Cognitive Avoidance Scale (CAS)

Average

93.3

Normal range

75.4 — 111.1

min.

max.

125

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Not at all characteristic of me
- Not characteristic of me
- Neither characteristic nor uncharacteristic of me
- Characteristic of me
- Completely characteristic of me
- Not at all characteristic of me
- Not characteristic of me
- Neither characteristic nor uncharacteristic
- Characteristic of me
- Completely characteristic of me
- Not at all characteristic of me
- Not characteristic of me
- Somewhat
- Characteristic of me
- Completely characteristic of me

These are 3 of the 25 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) Test - Symptoms and Signs

cbt

This self-report instrument is designed to assess patterns of cognitive avoidance in response to unwanted or intrusive thoughts. The Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) samples commonly described strategies people use to manage distressing cognitions.

The measure includes 25 items and typically takes about 5 minutes to complete. Item content reflects several domains of cognitive avoidance, such as thought suppression, thought substitution, distraction, avoidance of threat-related cues, and shifting from mental imagery to verbal thinking.

Scores from the Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) can support clinical case formulation by clarifying the cognitive strategies a respondent tends to rely on when experiencing internal distress.

Literature: Sexton, K. A., & Dugas, M. J. The cognitive avoidance questionnaire: Validation of the English translation. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2008.