Investigating the measurement structure of the Turkish version of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale-9

Abstract

The Turkish version of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale-9 (DAS-9) items assesses an individual’s level of endorsement of dysfunctional attitudes associated with depression. The purpose of this study was to evaluate factorial reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the DAS-9. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and the MIMIC model were used to investigate the psychometric properties of the DAS-9. The exploratory factor analysis results indicated a two-factor structure: (a) personal/internal rigid thoughts, and (b) dysfunctional thoughts involving other people and the external world. Participants at a high risk for depression endorsed the factor scores significantly higher than participants at a lower risk. Overall, the results suggest that the scale is a reliable and valid measure that can be used by clinicians and researchers to measure level of dysfunctional attitudes.