Objectives: The primary goals of the current study were to examine (a) the factor structure and reliability of the Children's Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (CDAS) in a sample of children and early adolescents and (b) the reliability of the factor structure in two additional independent samples at different developmental stages.
Design: In Phase 1, we conducted a factor analysis using maximum likelihood factor extraction and promax rotation to explore the underlying structure of the 40-item CDAS. In Phase 2, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis on the factors obtained in Phase 1.
Methods: In Phase 1, 140 children (ages 6-14) of affectively ill parents completed the CDAS and measures assessing depressive symptoms, coping strategies, and cognitive-interpersonal vulnerability factors. In Phase 2, 130 third grade children and 184 seventh grade schoolchildren completed similar measures.
Results: In Phase 1, a two-factor solution was obtained: (1) Self-critical Perfectionism (SCP) and (2) Personal Standards Perfectionism (PSP). In Phase 2, a two-factor solution provided a significantly better fit than a one-factor solution in both grades. The two factors obtained exhibited high internal consistency in both our high-risk and community samples. Additionally, in both samples, SCP was more strongly associated with depressive symptoms, maladaptive coping strategies, and impaired interpersonal relationships than was PSP.
Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest that dysfunctional attitudes cluster into SCP and PSP in children as well as early adolescents. Further, SCP may have a more deleterious impact on children's psychosocial functioning as compared to PSP.