Psychometric Properties of the Attitudes toward Self-Revised in Italian Young Adults

Objectives and Methods. Several researchers have provided support for the critical role of cognitive vulnerabilities in the development of depression. The Attitudes toward Self-Revised (ATS-R) was designed to assess three potential self-regulatory vulnerabilities to depression: High Standards (HS), Self-Criticism (SC), and Negative Generalization (NG). The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the ATS-R in the Italian young adult population. The ATS-R, the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and the Teate Depression Inventory (TDI) were administered to 857 (320 men and 537 women) young adults. Results. The best-fitting solution for the ATS-R was a 2-factor model, which obtained satisfactory homogeneity of content (HS/SC: Cronbach α = 0.81; mean interitem correlation = 0.46. NG: Cronbach α = 0.75; mean interitem correlation = 0.43) and significant correlation with the BDI-II (NG: Pearson r = 0.29, P < 0.01), the TDI (HS/SC: Pearson r = -0.26, P < 0.01), and the BHS (HS/SC: Pearson r = -0.29, P < 0.01; NG: Pearson r = 0.22, P < 0.01). Conclusions. The Italian version of the ATS-R seems to be a valid instrument for the study of the role of cognitive tendencies as potential vulnerability for depression.