Dysfunctional Attitude Scale: Evidence of Disconformity Factor Structure

The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was designed to measure patterns of maladaptive thinking held by depressed individuals. Despite its wide use as a research and clinical tool, only a few studies have been carried out to examine its psychometric properties in a high school student population in Iran. The objective of this study was to validate the Iranian version of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale Form A in the context of Iranian students. A total of 522 Iranian students (275 females and 225 males) from high schools participated in the study and completed a Persian version of General Health Questionnaire (PGHQ) and a Persian version of Automatic Thought Questionnaire (PATQ). Exploratory factor analyses showed a four-factor model of dysfunctional attitude scale which contains perfectionism, social approval, dependency and autonomy. The fit of the proposed four-factor model was not promising. The internal consistency of the DAS (40 items) was reasonable (Cronbachʹs ? = 0.72).The DAS correlated significantly with the PGHQ (r = 0.28) and the PATQ (r = 0.35). The results of exploratory factor analyses fairly supported the four-factor framework with Iranian students; however, confirmatory factor analysis was not fit with the model. Implications are discussed in detail