Dataset Information

Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) and DASS-21.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In recognizing the need for a reliable and valid instrument to assess psychological distress among children and adolescents, the present study translated the newly developed Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) into Chinese, while also comparing its psychometric properties with those of the well-established DASS-21 within a primary and middle school demographic.

Methods

Utilizing a combination of convenience sampling and purposive sampling, a cohort comprising 1,507 primary and 1,131 middle school students was recruited. Rasch analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used in the data analysis.

Results

Significant differences were observed between the DASS-Y and the DASS-21, notably within the anxiety subscale. The proportions of individuals with clinical mood disorders identified by the two scales demonstrated a significant disparity. Both scales, following an adjustment of responses, exhibited satisfactory internal consistency and convergent validity, with the acceptance of a three-factor structure. Furthermore, the DASS-Y showed superior discriminant validity relative to the DASS-21, providing more compelling evidence regarding concurrent validity.

Conclusion

Overall, the Chinese version of the DASS-Y demonstrated superior robustness to the DASS-21 in terms of psychometric properties. The findings provide initial evidence for the psychometric properties of the DASS-Y from another culture.

SUBMITTER: Cao CH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10486035 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) and DASS-21.

Cao Cui-Hong CH Liao Xiao-Ling XL Gamble Jeffrey H JH Li Ling-Ling LL Jiang Xing-Yong XY Li Xu-Dong XD Griffiths Mark D MD Chen I-Hua IH Lin Chung-Ying CY

Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health 20230907 1

<h4>Background</h4>In recognizing the need for a reliable and valid instrument to assess psychological distress among children and adolescents, the present study translated the newly developed Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) into Chinese, while also comparing its psychometric properties with those of the well-established DASS-21 within a primary and middle school demographic.<h4>Methods</h4>Utilizing a combination of convenience sampling and purposive sampling, a cohort compri ...[more]

PMID: 37679819

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Project description:Depression, anxiety, and stress continue to be among the largest burdens of disease, globally. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) is a shortened version of DASS-41 developed to measure these mental health conditions. The DASS-41 has strong evidence of validity and reliability in multiple contexts. However, the DASS-21, and the resulting item properties, has been explored less in terms of modern test theories. One such theory is Item Response Theory (IRT), and we use IRT models to explore latent item and person traits of each DASS-21 sub-scale among people living in Malaysia. Specifically, we aimed to assess Classical Test Theory and IRT properties including dimensionality, internal consistency (reliability), and item-level properties. We conducted a web-based cross-sectional study and sent link-based questionnaires to people aged 18 and above in a private university and requested to roll out the link. Overall and individual sub-scales’ Cronbach’s alpha of the DASS-21 indicates an excellent internal consistency. The average inter-item correlation and corrected inter-item correlations for each of the sub-scales indicated acceptable discrimination. On average, DASS-21 total scores and sub-scale scores were significantly higher among female participants than males. The Graded Response Model had better empirical fit to sub-scale response data. Raw summated and latent (IRT estimated) scores of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress sub-scales, and overall DASS-21 were strongly correlated. Thus, this study provides evidence of validity supporting the use of the DASS-21 as a mental health screening tool among Malaysians. Specifically, standard error of measurement was minimized to provide robust evidence of potential utility in identifying participants who are and are not experiencing these mental health issues. Additional research is warranted to ensure that test content culturally appropriate and accurately measuring cultural norms of depression, anxiety, and stress.

Project description:IntroductionDepression and anxiety are the most common mental health problems among adolescents. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales for Youth (DASS-Y) is a newly developed instrument designed to assess these problems in adolescents.AimThe present study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the DASS-Y among Chinese adolescents.MethodsA total of 326 secondary school students aged 14-18 years participated in the study. A convenience sampling method was adopted to conduct a test-retest of the DASS-Y among Chinese secondary school students. McDonald's omega, Cronbach's alpha, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) along with their 95% CI were used to assess the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the DASS-Y. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) evaluated the structural validity and convergent validity of the DASS-Y through the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), as well as Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and Composite Reliability (CR). Pearson correlation coefficients with the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) assessed criterion validity.ResultsThe CFA confirmed the validity the DASS-Y three-factor model consisting of depression, anxiety, and stress. The internal consistency reliability of the DASS-Y was found to be robust, with McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha values exceeding 0.8 for all dimensions across two measurements. The test-retest reliability was stable. The structural validity was reasonable and effective. Additionally, convergent validity is satisfactory, while criterion validity is also satisfactory. The three-factor model consisting of depression, anxiety and stress was confirmed through CFA.ConclusionThe DASS-Y exhibits satisfactory psychometric properties among Chinese secondary school adolescents, reliably and appropriately screening for mental health issues such as depression and anxiety within this population. Consequently, it can be employed as a standard tool for routine mental health surveillance in secondary schools.

Project description:To examine the cultural limitations and implications in the applicability of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8)-a shortened version of the DASS-21 recently introduced in an Arab sample-this study evaluated its psychometric properties, including measurement invariance, among healthy subjects from the United States, Australia, and Ghana. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed good fit of the DASS-8 relative to a 12-item version (DASS-12). Both the DASS-8 and the DASS-12 were invariant at all levels across genders, employment status, and students vs. non-students. The DASS-8/DASS-12 also expressed invariance at the configural and metric levels across all countries, albeit scalar invariance was not maintained due to misspecification of the factor loadings in the Ghanian sample. Mann-Whitney U test revealed significantly lower levels of mental symptomatology on the DASS measures among Ghanian students than in English-speaking respondents (both students and non-students). The DASS-8 expressed excellent internal consistency (coefficient alpha = 0.89), good convergent validity-noted by high values of item-total correlations (r = 0.87 to 0.88), good predictive validity-indicated by significantly strong correlation with the DASS-21 and its subscales (r = 0.95 to 0.80), and adequate discriminant validity-indicated by heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations <0.85. The DASS-8 correlated with the Internet Gaming Disorder-9, the Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Self-Report Scale, and the Individualism and Collectivism Scale/Culture Orientation Scale at the same level as the DASS-21 and the DASS-12, denoting its adequate criterion validity. The DASS-8 can be used as a brief alternative to the DASS-21 to screen for mental symptomatology in English-speaking and African cultures. However, the same scores on the DASS-8 and the DASS-12 may not always indicate the same level of symptom severity in subjects from different countries. Further inter-cultural evaluations of the DASS-8 are needed.

Project description:BackgroundApproximately one in five women who have recently given birth suffer from common mental disorder (CMD), particularly depression and/or anxiety. Most available CMD screening tools in most low- and middle-income countries do not screen for more than one mental health problem. Having a screening tool that is free to use, short in assessment time, and used to screen for more than one CMD is appealing in a resource-constrained setting.MethodWe conducted a criterion validation study of the Chichewa translated and adapted DASS-21 instrument against gold standard diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders using an independently administered Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). We compared the performance of the DASS-depression subscale with the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Internal reliability was reported using both Cronbach's alpha and ordinal alpha. The DASS-21 and EPDS ability to discriminate cases from non-cases was assessed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. We selected cut-off points for DASS-21 and EPDS that maximise both sensitivity and specificity.ResultsOne hundred fifteen participants were administered all the measures. Approximately 11.3% and 14.8% had depression and anxiety diagnoses respectively using SCID. The overall Cronbach's alpha for the DASS-21 scale was 0.74. The DASS-21 subscales had Cronbach's alpha values of 0.66, 0.29 and 0.52 for depression (DASS-D), anxiety (DASS-A) and stress (DASS-S), respectively. The ordinal alpha for DASS-D, DASS-A and DASS-S subscales were 0.83, 0.74 and 0.87, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.61; 0.91) for DASS-D and 0.65 for DASS-A. At a cut-off point of one or more, the sensitivity and specificity for DASS-D were 69.2% and 75.5%, whilst DASS-A was 52.9% and 75.5%, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient for the association between DASS-D and EPDS was r = 0.61, p < 0.001.ConclusionThe DASS-21 had good internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha), and its ordinal alpha demonstrated good internal reliability for all its sub-scales. Regarding the criterion validation, only the DASS-D and EPDS demonstrated a satisfactory ability to discriminate cases from non-cases. Our findings suggest that health practitioners can use DASS-D as an alternative tool in screening depression as it has fewer questions than EPDS.

Dataset Information

Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) and DASS-21.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) and DASS-21.

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