Department of Kinesiology and Recreation Administration, College of Behavioral & Social Sciences, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2019 Dec 1;259:136-142. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.06.036. Epub 2019 Jun 30.
Previous validity studies of Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were limited by yielding poor factor loading values and eventually skipping the critical process addressing convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. Without the crucial process, it was risky that past studies insisted DASS-21 be ready for use. Therefore, the current study examined DASS-21 regarding the three kinds of validity to determine if DASS-21 can be further used in the future.
The current study formulated a CFA model (i.e., modified one-factor model) of DASS-21, which yielded factor loading values over β = 0.70 and estimated a latent variable of Psychological Distress by employing indicators of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. The data collection was conducted at two universities in the U.S. and South Korea in November 2016 (N = 255). The study participants completed an online survey developed with DASS-21. With the collected data, the present study investigated the convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the modified one-factor model of DASS-21 through CFA.
The model fit of the modified one-factor model was complete as saturated. The convergent validity coefficient of Psychological Distress was 0.87, and average variance extracted of the variable was 0.68. The three correlations among the measured variables (i.e., indicators) were 0.50 < r < 0.75.
Application of the current study's findings to youth or older adults can be limited as the subjects were young adults.
The current study made substantial evidence regarding the convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of DASS-21 through CFA.
先前使用验证性因子分析（CFA）对抑郁-焦虑-压力量表-21（DASS-21）进行的效度研究，由于因子负荷值较差，最终省略了重要的会聚、区别和效标效度的验证过程。如果没有这个关键过程，过去的研究坚持认为 DASS-21 可以投入使用，这是有风险的。因此，本研究通过 CFA 对 DASS-21 的三种效度进行了检验，以确定 DASS-21 是否可以在未来进一步使用。
本研究构建了 DASS-21 的 CFA 模型（即修正的单因素模型），该模型产生的因子负荷值大于β=0.70，并通过抑郁、焦虑和压力的指标来估计心理困扰的潜在变量。数据收集于 2016 年 11 月在美国和韩国的两所大学进行（N=255）。研究参与者完成了一项在线调查，其中包括 DASS-21。通过收集的数据，本研究通过 CFA 对修正的单因素模型的会聚、区别和效标效度进行了检验。
修正的单因素模型的拟合度完全饱和。心理困扰的会聚效度系数为 0.87，变量的平均方差提取率为 0.68。三个测量变量（即指标）之间的相关系数为 0.50<r<0.75。
由于研究对象为年轻人，本研究的发现可能会限制在年轻人或老年人中的应用。
本研究通过 CFA 对 DASS-21 的会聚、区别和效标效度提供了充分的证据。
