Confirmatory Factor Structure of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale in Students

Abstract

Background and purpose: Depression, anxiety, and stress and measuring their levels are regarded as important issues in health. This research aimed at investigating the sex equivalence and invariance of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) in Iranian male and female students. Materials and methods: A correlational study was done in 976 students (647 females and 329 males) in Shahid Beheshti University, 2014. The study population included all new students in undergraduate courses selected via complete enumeration. The participants responded to DASS and Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scales (RSPWB-SF). Data analysis was carried out in Amos 24. Results: The three factor model (depression, anxiety, and stress) was confirmed through CFA for all students and goodness-of-fit indices showed that the model well fitted the data. The negative correlation between DASS and RSPWB-SF also confirmed the validity of the scale. Moreover, factor structure of the scale was invariant between males and females which showed that the interpretations of latent structures were the same between the two groups. The results of ANOVA also showed no significant differences between male and female students in anxiety and stress but a slight difference was found between them in depression. Conclusion: The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale could be used as an assessment tool in research studies and clinical situations in both gender.

Keywords

• multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis
• sex equivalence
• sex invariance
• depression
• anxiety and stress scale