Translation and validation study of the depression anxiety stress scale in the greek general population and in a psychiatric patient's sample

Abstract

Introduction The DASS is a self administered questionnaire which principally measures anxiety stress and depression as a feature of the general population with 42 items. Aims To create an easy to use and valid measurement, for primary care and during treatment assessment in patients with anxiety or depression disorders. Methods Translation was performed using the multiple forward and backward translation protocol. STAI state and trait along with BDI were also administered to check construct validity of DASS. Results 537 adults participated, 178 (33.6%) male, 349 (64.6%) female. The total scale of the DASS-42 had a coefficient alpha of .968. Subscale coefficient alphas also were high (α depression = ,941; α anxiety = ,906 ; α stress = ,942). Mean score for stress was 12,46 (SD = 9,82), for anxiety 7,19 (SD = 7,7) and for depression 8,05 (SD 9,6). Both subscales and total score were significantly correlated with STAI and BDI (r = .60 to.73, p < .01).Principal Components Analysis revealed the presence of 3 factors explaining 56% of the total variance. 14 items loaded in the stress subscale, 14 in the depression factor, but only 12 in the anxiety factor. ANOVAs found significant differences in all subscales between healthy adults and psychiatric outpatients. (p < ,001). Conclusions The results of the current validation study suggest that the Greek translation of the DASS is both reliable and valid, with psychometric properties close to those reported in the international literature.