Cargando…

The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults

Psychometric work on the widely used Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) has mostly used classical psychometrics and ignored common internet-administered versions. Therefore, the present study used not only classical, but also modern psychometrics based on item response theory (IRT) to evalu...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wardenaar, Klaas J., Wanders, Rob B. K., Jeronimus, Bertus F., de Jonge, Peter
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5978836/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29937624
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9626-6
_version_ 1783327567127773184
author Wardenaar, Klaas J.
Wanders, Rob B. K.
Jeronimus, Bertus F.
de Jonge, Peter
author_facet Wardenaar, Klaas J.
Wanders, Rob B. K.
Jeronimus, Bertus F.
de Jonge, Peter
author_sort Wardenaar, Klaas J.
collection PubMed
description Psychometric work on the widely used Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) has mostly used classical psychometrics and ignored common internet-administered versions. Therefore, the present study used not only classical, but also modern psychometrics based on item response theory (IRT) to evaluate an internet-administered version of the DASS (Dutch translation). Internet-administered DASS data were collected as part of a large internet-based study in the Dutch adult population (n = 7972). Initially, external correlates (i.e. demographics other measures) and some classical psychometrics (internal consistency, convergent/divergent validity) of the DASS scales were evaluated. Next, IRT was used to investigate the scales’ dimensionality, discrimination and item-functioning. Finally, the DASS depression scale was further investigated by linking it to the more clinically-oriented Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) using item response theory (IRT). Initial classical psychometric analyses supported the scales’ internal consistency (alpha = 0.94–0.98) and convergent/divergent validity. IRT analyses showed that each of the DASS scales was only suitable to measure variations in a very narrow and rather mild severity range. Linking the DASS depression scale with the QIDS also showed that the DASS depression scale discriminated best in the mild-moderate severity range, but not at higher severity levels that were covered by the QIDS. In conclusion, the scales of the internet-administered DASS show good internal consistency and validity. However, users should be aware that the scales discriminate best at mild-moderate severity ranges in the general population.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5978836
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher Springer US
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-59788362018-06-21 The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults Wardenaar, Klaas J. Wanders, Rob B. K. Jeronimus, Bertus F. de Jonge, Peter J Psychopathol Behav Assess Article Psychometric work on the widely used Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) has mostly used classical psychometrics and ignored common internet-administered versions. Therefore, the present study used not only classical, but also modern psychometrics based on item response theory (IRT) to evaluate an internet-administered version of the DASS (Dutch translation). Internet-administered DASS data were collected as part of a large internet-based study in the Dutch adult population (n = 7972). Initially, external correlates (i.e. demographics other measures) and some classical psychometrics (internal consistency, convergent/divergent validity) of the DASS scales were evaluated. Next, IRT was used to investigate the scales’ dimensionality, discrimination and item-functioning. Finally, the DASS depression scale was further investigated by linking it to the more clinically-oriented Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) using item response theory (IRT). Initial classical psychometric analyses supported the scales’ internal consistency (alpha = 0.94–0.98) and convergent/divergent validity. IRT analyses showed that each of the DASS scales was only suitable to measure variations in a very narrow and rather mild severity range. Linking the DASS depression scale with the QIDS also showed that the DASS depression scale discriminated best in the mild-moderate severity range, but not at higher severity levels that were covered by the QIDS. In conclusion, the scales of the internet-administered DASS show good internal consistency and validity. However, users should be aware that the scales discriminate best at mild-moderate severity ranges in the general population. Springer US 2017-09-18 2018 /pmc/articles/PMC5978836/ /pubmed/29937624 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9626-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Article
Wardenaar, Klaas J.
Wanders, Rob B. K.
Jeronimus, Bertus F.
de Jonge, Peter
The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults
title The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults
title_full The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults
title_fullStr The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults
title_full_unstemmed The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults
title_short The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults
title_sort psychometric properties of an internet-administered version of the depression anxiety and stress scales (dass) in a sample of dutch adults
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5978836/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29937624
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9626-6
work_keys_str_mv AT wardenaarklaasj thepsychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults
AT wandersrobbk thepsychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults
AT jeronimusbertusf thepsychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults
AT dejongepeter thepsychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults
AT wardenaarklaasj psychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults
AT wandersrobbk psychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults
AT jeronimusbertusf psychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults
AT dejongepeter psychometricpropertiesofaninternetadministeredversionofthedepressionanxietyandstressscalesdassinasampleofdutchadults