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Reliability, convergent validity and factor structure of the DASS-21 in a sample of Vietnamese adolescents

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Version 2 2024-06-04, 12:29
Version 1 2019-03-05, 09:49
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-18, 13:30 authored by MTH Le, TD Tran, Sara Holton, HT Nguyen, R Wolfe, J Fisher
OBJECTIVES: To assess the internal consistency, latent structure and convergent validity of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) among adolescents in Vietnam. METHOD: An anonymous, self-completed questionnaire was conducted among 1,745 high school students in Hanoi, Vietnam between October, 2013 and January, 2014. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to assess the latent structure of the DASS-21. Factorial invariance between girls and boys was examined. Cronbach alphas and correlation coefficients between DASS-21 factor scores and the domain scores of the Duke Health Profile Adolescent Vietnamese validated version (ADHP-V) were calculated to assess DASS-21 internal consistency and convergent validity. RESULTS: A total of 1,606/ 1,745 (92.6%) students returned the questionnaire. Of those, 1,387 students provided complete DASS-21 data. The scale demonstrated adequate internal consistency (Cronbach α: 0.761 to 0.906). A four-factor model showed the best fit to the data. Items loaded significantly on a common general distress factor, the depression, and the anxiety factors, but few on the stress factor (p<0.05). DASS-21 convergent validity was confirmed with moderate correlation coefficients (-0.47 to -0.66) between its factor scores and the ADHP-V mental health related domains. CONCLUSIONS: The DASS-21 is reliable and suitable for use to assess symptoms of common mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety among Vietnamese adolescents. However, its ability in detecting stress among these adolescents may be limited. Further research is warrant to explore these results.

History

Journal

PLoS ONE

Volume

12

Article number

ARTN e0180557

Pagination

1 - 14

Location

United States

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1932-6203

eISSN

1932-6203

Language

English

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2017, Le et al

Issue

7

Publisher

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE