Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Depressive Cognition Scale in first-year adolescent Egyptian nursing students.

BACKGROUND Identifying depressive cognitions in adolescent nursing students can be an important step to prevent the development of clinical depression, which is positively associated with suicide. PURPOSE This study focused on the psychometric testing of the Arabic version of the Depressive Cognition Scale (A-DCS) among 170 first-year adolescent Egyptian nursing students. METHODS The questionnaire was assessed for internal consistency, homogeneity, and construct validity using factor analysis and convergent validity. RESULTS Cronbach's alpha for (A-DCS) was .86. The homogeneity of the instrument was supported by item-to-total correlations between .30 and .70. Factor extraction generated only one factor with eigenvalues greater than 1, which is consistent with the English version. The (A-DCS) total score had a strong significant correlation with the Alienation Scale scores (r = .51, p < .01), indicating convergent validity. CONCLUSION This scale has the potential to become a useful screening tool for depressive cognitions among Egyptian nursing students.