Dataset Information

Assessing anxiety among adolescents in Hong Kong: psychometric properties and validity of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in an epidemiological community sample.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The development of a valid and simple-to-use self-administered tool in Asian adolescents for clinical screening and intervention remains limited. The present study assessed the psychometric characteristics and validity of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7) among adolescents in Hong Kong.

Methods

Epidemiological data from 3,261 Hong Kong adolescents aged 15 - 24 years were analysed for the construct validity, criterion validity, concurrent validity, and Rasch Model. All analyses were age- and gender-weighted according to the distributions of Hong Kong's general population.

Results

The GAD-7 showed high internal consistency and strong fit to the one-factor structure. The best cut-off value was set at 7 or more. Regression models found that the total scores of the scale were positively associated with symptoms of depression and hypomania, schizotypal personality and alcohol dependence. Rasch model analysis found that the separation index was 2.18 and 16.51 for the respondents and items, respectively and all residual pairs had small correlation coefficients (i.e., < 0.3).

Conclusions

All psychometric findings presented in this study support the use of the GAD-7 as a legitimate measure of anxiety severity. A cut-off score of 7 should indicate a potential diagnosable condition in Asian adolescents, which requires our attention but should not be used as a formal diagnostic screening tool. The findings revealed the local dependence of the items of the GAD-7 and that the scale can separate respondents into at least two groups and items into numerous groups according to the separation index.

SUBMITTER: Ip H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9664827 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Assessing anxiety among adolescents in Hong Kong: psychometric properties and validity of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in an epidemiological community sample.

Ip Hang H Suen Yi Nam YN Hui Christy Lai Ming CLM Wong Stephanie Ming Yin SMY Chan Sherry Kit Wa SKW Lee Edwin Ho Ming EHM Wong Michael Tak Hing MTH Chen Eric Yu Hai EYH

BMC psychiatry 20221114 1

<h4>Background</h4>The development of a valid and simple-to-use self-administered tool in Asian adolescents for clinical screening and intervention remains limited. The present study assessed the psychometric characteristics and validity of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7) among adolescents in Hong Kong.<h4>Methods</h4>Epidemiological data from 3,261 Hong Kong adolescents aged 15 - 24 years were analysed for the construct validity, criterion validity, concurrent validity, and Ras ...[more]

PMID: 36376799

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundGeneralised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic and pervasive condition that generates high levels of psychological stress, and it is difficult to treat in the long term. Current pharmacotherapeutic options for GAD are in some cases only modestly effective, and may elicit undesirable side effects. Through targeted actions on the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) pathway, the South Pacific medicinal plant kava (Piper methysticum) is a non-addictive, non-hypnotic anxiolytic with the potential to treat GAD. The evidence for the efficacy of kava for treating anxiety has been affirmed through clinical trials and meta-analyses. Recent research has also served to lessen safety concerns regarding the use of kava due to hepatotoxic risk, which is reflected in a recent German court overturning the previous kava ban in that country (which may in turn influence a reinstatement by the European Union). The aim of current research is to assess the efficacy of an 'aqueous noble cultivar rootstock extract' of kava in GAD in a larger longer term study. In addition, we plan to investigate the pharmacogenomic influence of GABA transporters on response, effects of kava on gene expression, and for the first time, the neurobiological correlates of treatment response via functional and metabolic imaging.Methods/designThis clinical trial is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1063383) and co-funded by MediHerb (Integria Healthcare (Australia) Pty. Ltd). The study is a phase III, multi-site, two-arm, 18-week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study using an aqueous extract of noble kava cultivar (standardised to 240 mg of kavalactones per day) versus matching placebo in 210 currently anxious participants with diagnosed GAD who are non-medicated. The study takes place at two sites: the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology (Swinburne University of Technology), Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia; and the Academic Discipline of Psychiatry (The University of Queensland) based at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, Brisbane, Australia. Written informed consent will be obtained from each participant prior to commencement in the study. The primary outcome is the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (SIGH-A). The secondary outcomes involve a range of scales that assess affective disorder symptoms and quality of life outcomes, in addition to the study of mediating biomarkers of response (assessed via genomics and neuroimaging).DiscussionIf this study demonstrates positive findings in support of the superiority of kava over placebo in the treatment of GAD, and also is shown to be safe, then this plant-medicine can be considered a 'first-line' therapy for GAD. Genomic and neuroimaging data may reveal clinical response patterns and provide more evidence of the neurobiological activity of the plant extract.Trial registration informationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02219880 Date: 13 August 2014:.

Dataset Information

Assessing anxiety among adolescents in Hong Kong: psychometric properties and validity of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in an epidemiological community sample.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Assessing anxiety among adolescents in Hong Kong: psychometric properties and validity of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in an epidemiological community sample.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets