Development of the French version of the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale in a non-clinical sample of young adults.

Background: In accordance with continuum and cognitive behaviour models of psychosis, cognitive biases precede the onset and the maintenance of positive symptoms. The Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS), a self-report measure, was developed to explore the prevalence of specific cognitive biases. This study aims to validate the French version of this instrument.

Methods: We first translated the English version of the DACOBS into French. Then, using a sample of 213 French speaking young adults (mean age = 20.54, SD = 1.65; 83% females), we examined the factor structure, internal consistency, concurrent, and convergent validities of the current version.

Results: We found an 18-item, four-factor version of the French DACOBS comprising external attribution bias (five items), social cognition problems (five items), subjective cognition problems (five items), and safety behaviours (five items), provided best fit-to-data. Internal consistency for the resulting subscales ranged from acceptable to excellent (Cronbach's α range = .62-.86). All subscales were significantly, positively associated with a measure of psychotic-like experiences and positively associated with established measures of theoretically relevant constructs, demonstrating concurrent and convergent validity of the French DACOBS.

Conclusions: The French DACOBS is a reliable and valid and reliable instrument assessing cognitive biases, in a French-speaking youth population. Ultimately, the French DACOBS may be used to identify at-risk youth which may benefit from cognitive interventions targeting cognitive biases, safety behaviours and social cognition which could potentially prevent transition to psychosis in youth.