Turkish Journal of Psychiatry

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Short Versions of the Questionnaires Related to Dysfunctional Cognitions in a Clinical Sample: Dysfunctional Attitude Scale and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire Ceren GÖKDAĞ, Servet KAÇAR-BAŞARAN 2020 31(2): 113-121
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Objective: In the literature, Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS)
and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) are two commonly
used questionnaires investigating dysfunctional cognitions within the
frame of Cognitive Theory. In this study, it was aimed to examine the
psychometric properties of the short versions (DAS-17, ATQ-15, ATQ-
8) of these two questionnaires in a clinical sample diagnosed with major
depressive disorder.
Method: The study included 136 adults diagnosed with Major
Depressive Disorder on the DSM-IV-TR criteria. The participants were
administered the Beck Depression Inventory along with the DAS and
ATQ.
Results: Four different models were tested in the confirmatory factor
analysis for the DAS-17 which was found to provide the best fit for the
bifactor model. The analyses indicated that DAS-17 supports a onedimensional structure, pointing to the use of the total score instead of
the sub-dimension scores. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis
for the ATQ-15 and the ATQ-8 indicate that both scales have a singlefactor structure. Short versions of DAS and ATQ have, respectively,
good and excellent internal consistency reliability coefficients. Also,
significant relationships were observed between depressive symptoms
and dysfunctional attitudes, and automatic thoughts.
Conclusion: The DAS-17, ATQ-15 and ATQ-8 are valid and reliable
scales for use on individuals diagnosed with depression. Nevertheless, it
is considered useful to confirm these findings in larger samples.