Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Vulnerability

Abstract

Beck´s Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS), standardized for the Republic of Korea, were administered through the electronic telecommunication network, in an attempt to test the usefulness of this medium in the field of psychiatry, and to look at the relationship between cognitive vulnerability and depressive symptoms. Using the results of 303 people who responded to both scales through the Inchon telecommunication network, reliability of and correlation between the two scales were calculated. The results were as follows: 1) The results showed high reliability with the Cronbach Alpha being 0.8887 (BDI), and 0.8395 (DAS). The split half reliability coefficients were 0.8515(BDI) and 0.7216(DAS), and after Spearman-Brown correction, 0.8529 (BDI) and 0.7337(DAS). 2) The average scores of BDI and DAS were 14.13±9.07 and 148.58± 23.90,respectively, which correlated with the results of prior studies and the Korean standardization studies, in which the results were 13.01±7.771 and 12.25±7.97 for BDI and 145.32±22.70 for the DAS. 3) Correlations between BDI total score and DAS total score and between BDI total and achievement-related DAS score were significant (p<0.05) but not between BDI total score and dependency-related DAS score. Correlations between achievement-related DAS score and achievement-related BDI score, between dependency-related DAS score and dependency-related BDI score, and between achievement-related DAS score and dependency-related BDI score were significant (p<0.05) but not between dependency-related DAS score and achievement-related BDI score. This study supports the partial correlation between cognitive vulnerability and depressive symptoms, moreover, it demonstrates the possibility and reliability of psychiatric testing through the electronic telecommunication network