Background: The Self-Absorption Scale (SAS) is one of the few instruments that measure dysfunctional self-focused attention or self-absorption, a transdiagnostic factor of vulnerability to various emotional disorders. The internal structure of the Spanish version of the SAS and its relationship with other variables have not been examined, nor has whether its subscales provide relevant information. These were the two goals of the present study.
Method: The factor structure of the SAS, its internal consistency, and its relationship with depression and post-traumatic stress were analyzed in a Spanish community sample of 519 adults.
Results: The SAS presented a symmetrical bifactor structure with a general factor of self-absorption that explained most of the variance in the items and two specific factors of private and public self-absorption. The total scale and the two subscales of the SAS exhibited excellent, good or adequate reliability coefficients (alphas/omegas = .70 – .88) and correlated with depression and post-traumatic stress ( r = .34 – .46).
Conclusions: The SAS provides reliable, valid measures of dysfunctional self-focused attention in Spanish adults, but its Private and Public Self-absorption subscales are not much more useful than the information provided by its total scale.