The Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale: factor structure, reliability, and validity with older adults.
The Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale Form A (DAS-A), a self-report measure of depression-related attitudes, has been used in numerous depression studies. The DAS-A has a two-factor structure that has been found consistently with college student samples and clinically depressed samples of middle-aged adults, but it has not been validated with older adults. The present study examined the factor structure with a sample of 100 depressed older adults (average age = 68.19; average initial Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HRSD] score = 16.72) who participated in a depression treatment study. Results indicated the factor structure established with younger adults was not replicated with older adults. Furthermore, the factor structure with older adults was uncertain: a single factor structure, two-factor structure, and three-factor structure were essentially of equal validity. The uncertainty of the latent structure of the DAS-A suggests that it should be interpreted with caution whenever used with older adults.
Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-5030, USA. mfloyd@ccmail.nevada.edu
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D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012650:Self Disclosure; D014481:United States