Exploratory and confirmatory factor validation of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale for Malays (DAS-Malay) in Malaysia

The aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure of the Malay version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS-Malay) in clinical and nonclinical populations. The DAS is a self-report inventory derived from Beck's cognitive theory of depression to measure beliefs constituting a predisposition to depression. The 40-item DAS-Malay was completed by 315 university students, 495 members of the general community, 167 medical patients, and 113 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Through principal axis factoring, with varimax rotation, two factors were extracted; performance evaluation and self-control. Correlation with depression and other variables indicated that the DAS-Malay held good concurrent validity. In addition, sensitivity and specificity of the total scores of the DAS were evident in this study. The results showed that the DAS-Malay possesses satisfactory psychometric properties suggesting that this instrument is appropriate for use as a cognitive measure in a Malay cultural context although several issues require consideration.