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Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI)3

Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI) Test

Understand which bedtime worries and rumination keep you from falling asleep in about 5 minutes. With 25 quick items, it pinpoints thought patterns to guide targeted support for insomnia.

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Questions: 255 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

15,420 views

1,172 completions

1,005 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

74/100

Total Score (TS)

This scale measures how frequently intrusive, worry-based thoughts occur before sleep and interfere with falling asleep.

Low

High

25 – 42: Low | 43 – 100: High

A score of 74 falls in the High range, suggesting frequent pre-sleep intrusive thoughts that are likely to make it harder to relax and fall asleep.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Chronic sleep-onset strugglers

41%OF USERS

People who regularly lie awake for a long time and want to pinpoint which thoughts and worries keep them from falling asleep.

High-stress overthinkers

34%OF USERS

People under ongoing work, study, or life stress who notice bedtime rumination, replaying the day, and anticipatory worry.

Therapy and clinic clients

25%OF USERS

People working with a psychologist or sleep specialist who need a quick snapshot of pre-sleep thought patterns to guide treatment.

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.

Points scored (Ps)

Average

66.5

Normal range

56.4 — 76.6

min.

max.

100

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

Below are several thoughts that people may have while falling asleep or when they are unable to sleep. Please indicate how often, over the past week, the following thoughts have kept you from falling asleep.

- Never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- Never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- Never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always

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

Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI) Test - Symptoms and Signs

sleep

This self-report measure assesses the content of pre-sleep cognitions that may interfere with relaxation and sleep onset. The Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI) is commonly used to characterize thought patterns associated with insomnia complaints, particularly repetitive thinking and worry.

Developed by G. A. Wells, it includes 25 items and typically takes about 5 minutes to complete. Respondents rate the extent to which specific thoughts are present when trying to fall asleep, supporting clinical formulation and monitoring.

Results from the Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI) can help identify prominent cognitive themes to target in treatment planning (e.g., cognitive-behavioral interventions focused on maladaptive pre-sleep rumination), and may also be used as an outcome measure in clinical and research settings.

Author: G. A. Wells

Literature: Morin, C. M. Insomnia: psychological assessment and management. Guilford Press. 1993.; Espie, C. A. Insomnia: conceptual issues in the development, persistence, and treatment of sleep disorder in adults. Annual Review of Psychology. 2002.; Harvey, K. J., & Espie, C. A. Development and preliminary investigation of the Glasgow Content of Thoughts Inventory (GCTI): a new measure for the assessment of pre-sleep cognitive activity. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2004.