Abstract

The article presents findings from three studies designed to validate and culturally adapt the Polish version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire, a measure of the cognitive and emotional components of illness representations among oncology patients. The tool is conceptually based on Leventhal’s Self-Regulatory Model. The results of the study 1 show that it can be successfully used in a Polish cultural context as a reliable equivalent to its original English version. Analyses conducted in Study 2 provided good evidence for construct and criterion validity as well as the internal reliability of the IPQ-R subscales. Study 3 revealed that the IPQ-R subscales present good test–retest reliability. Overall, the results show that the Polish version of the IPQ-R provides a comprehensive and psychometrically acceptable assessment of the representation of cancer and can be reliably used in studies involving Polish oncology patients.