| Objectives: To perform factor-analytic studies of the ATQ and explore the relationships between negative automatic thoughts (NATs) and other mental factors such as personality traits, social supports, coping styles and mental symptoms. Methods: 312 undergraduates were investigated with the automatic thoughts questionnaire (ATQ), Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16-PF), social supports rating scale, ways of coping, and symptom check list 90 (SCL-90). Results: (1) Five components with eigenvalue greater than one were extracted, accounting for 56.8% of the variance in the scale. (2) NATs had significantly positive correlations with personality factors L, O, Q4, and negative correlation with factors A, B, C, E, F, G, H, M, N, Q3. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that factors C, O, F and B accounted for 30.2% of the variance of NATs, while Q4, B and O of female for 28.3% and C, O, F, Q4 of male for 37.0%. (3) NATs had significantly negative correlations with social supports, while positive correlations with coping styles of avoidance, praying and blame. (4) Both the ATQ scores and the sores of 30 items had significantly positive correlations with the scores of SCL-90. Ten items including 'There must be something wrong with me.', 'I'm no good.' and 'I can't get things together.' accounted for 61.4% of the variance of mental symptoms, while 8 items for 64.3% in female and 6 items for 63.4% in male. (5) Stepwise regression analyses revealed that NATs, personality factors C, avoidance, personality factors Q4 and Aaccounted for 59.5% of the variance of mental symptoms;however NATs accounted for 53.7%. Conclusions: NATs involves thoughts about personal maladjustment, giving up or hopelessness, desire for change, negative expectation and self-denial. Personality factors affected NATs in a certain degree. NATs had relatives with social supports and coping styles. NATs , especially some ideas were significant predictors of mental symptoms.
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