The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) evaluate beliefs and assumptions that may create some cognitive vulnerability to depression. This study examined the consistency; internal structure of the DAS-A and DAS-B and their correlations with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). These questionnaires were applied to a sample of two hundred seventy three university students, with ages between 19 and 25 years old (68,8%), single (85,7%), female (62,6%), and studying in their first two years (63,7%) at the university. The results revealed acceptable indices of reliability and a good factorial structure of the two forms of DAS showing that they could be considered as equivalents. However, the correlations between both forms and with the BDI suggested a non specificity of the scale with symptoms of depression. New improvement of the properties of the scale would enable not only further research on psychopathology but could also allow the clinical use of the DAS scale.
Dysfunctional attitudes; Scale; Psychometric properties; Depression; Cognitive vulnerability
