Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 in older primary care patients

Abstract The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) was designed to efficiently measure the core symptoms of anxiety and depression and has demonstrated positive psychometric properties in adult samples of anxiety and depression patients and student samples. Despite these findings, the psychometric...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2008-10, Vol.110 (3), p.248-259
Main Authors: Gloster, Andrew T, Rhoades, Howard M, Novy, Diane, Klotsche, Jens, Senior, Ashley, Kunik, Mark, Wilson, Nancy, Stanley, Melinda A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anxiety
Anxiety - diagnosis
Assessment
Biological and medical sciences
Depression - diagnosis
Depression Anxiety Stress Scale
Female
GAD
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Older adults
Primary Health Care
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics - methods
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reproducibility of Results
Stress, Psychological - diagnosis
Surveys and Questionnaires
Techniques and methods
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Summary:Abstract The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) was designed to efficiently measure the core symptoms of anxiety and depression and has demonstrated positive psychometric properties in adult samples of anxiety and depression patients and student samples. Despite these findings, the psychometric properties of the DASS remain untested in older adults, for whom the identification of efficient measures of these constructs is especially important. To determine the psychometric properties of the DASS 21-item version in older adults, we analyzed data from 222 medical patients seeking treatment to manage worry. Consistent with younger samples, a three-factor structure best fit the data. Results also indicated good internal consistency, excellent convergent validity, and good discriminative validity, especially for the Depression scale. Receiver operating curve analyses indicated that the DASS-21 predicted the diagnostic presence of generalized anxiety disorder and depression as well as other commonly used measures. These data suggest that the DASS may be used with older adults in lieu of multiple scales designed to measure similar constructs, thereby reducing participant burden and facilitating assessment in settings with limited assessment resources.
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2008.01.023