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Open Access 01-08-2009 | Original Article

Measuring Dysfunctional Attitudes in the General Population: The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (form A) Revised

Authors: L. Esther de Graaf, Jeffrey Roelofs, Marcus J. H. Huibers

Published in: Cognitive Therapy and Research | Issue 4/2009

Abstract

The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was designed to measure the intensity of dysfunctional attitudes, a hallmark feature of depression. Various exploratory factor analytic studies of the DAS form A (DAS-A) yielded mixed results. The current study was set up to compare the fit of various factor models. We used a large community sample (N = 8,960) to test the previously proposed factor models of the DAS-A using confirmatory factor analysis. The retained model of the DAS-A was subjected to reliability and validity analyses. All models showed good fit to the data. Finally, a two-factor solution of the DAS-A was retained, consisting of 17 items. The factors demonstrated good reliability and convergent construct validity. Significant associations were found with depression. Norm-scores were presented. We advocate the use of a 17-item DAS-A, which proved to be useful in measuring dysfunctional beliefs. On the basis of previous psychometric studies, our study provides solid evidence for a two-factor model of the DAS-A, consisting of ‘dependency’ and ‘perfectionism/performance evaluation’.

An anonymous reviewer suggested that the factor structure of the DAS-A might differ in depressed and non-depressed individuals. We therefore subjected the two-factor model of the DAS-A-17 to confirmatory factor analysis in a depressed and non-depressed subgroup separately. Depression status was based on the criteria of the DID. The results are fairly similar in both subgroups. The results for the depressed subgroup (N = 719) were as follows: RMSEA = .054 (.048–.060), ECVI = 0.61 (0.53–0.69), NNFI = .99, CFI = .99, and GFI = .94. For the non-depressed subgroup (N = 8241) the results were: RMSEA = .065 (.063–.066), ECVI = 0.51 (0.49–0.54), NNFI = .97, CFI = .98, and GFI = .94.

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Title: Measuring Dysfunctional Attitudes in the General Population: The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (form A) Revised
Authors: L. Esther de Graaf
Jeffrey Roelofs
Marcus J. H. Huibers
Publication date: 01-08-2009
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Cognitive Therapy and Research / Issue 4/2009
Print ISSN: 0147-5916
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2819
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-009-9229-y

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Measuring Dysfunctional Attitudes in the General Population: The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (form A) Revised

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