This study examined the structural validity and reliability of the DASS-21 in a large sample (N = 4,202) of secondary school students from North Macedonia (Mage = 16.43 ± 1.04, 65% girls). Based on theoretical and empirical considerations, five structural models were compared using confirmatory factor analysis. The original three-factor model provided good fit to the data; however, high interfactor correlations indicated that the depression, anxiety, and stress factors were indistinguishable. The bifactor solution yielded superior fit relative to other tested models. Factor loading patterns revealed a strong general factor and some specificity of the depression and anxiety factors, whereas the stress items were primarily markers of general distress. Model-based reliability and ancillary bifactor indices revealed that the DASS-21 is essentially unidimensional. Thus, only the total score could be used as a reliable measure of general emotional distress, while subscale scores should be avoided. Overall, the findings provide further support for the cross-cultural validity of the DASS-21 and confirm that it is suitable for use among older adolescents in North Macedonia.

The paper presents the current status of the transdiagnostic approach to psychopathology, an alternative model of describing and understanding mental health impairments, which attempts to bridge the gap between clinical reality and the diagnostic paradigm. By abandoning the boundaries (i.e. limitations) of diagnostic categories, this perspective provides opportunities for a more accurate conceptualization of processes underlying a wide range of disorders, either as risk factors for their occurrence or mechanisms that maintain them, as well as for proposing psychological interventions whose effectiveness transcends individual diagnostic entities. Following a brief overview of the weaknesses of categorical nosological systems, the dimensional representation of psychopathology is presented as a foundation for this perspective. Next, various approaches to defining and examining transdiagnostic processes are further presented, and empirical evidence on several extensively researched vulnerability factors is discussed. Finally, the specifics of transdiagnostic psychological interventions are briefly elaborated on, and, in conclusion, the current challenges and potential future directions of this paradigm are presented.

Death anxiety is defined as an emotional response to awareness of death, including fear of personal mortality, which is not caused by an imminent threat to life. Numerous empirical findings suggest that the period of early adulthood is marked by a higtened fear or anxiety associated with death and dying, and that this type of anxiety is usually more prominent in females. According to the Terror Management Theory, adult attachment represents a distant defense from mortality salience and the transience of life. The study presented in this paper was conducted in order to examine sex differences in death anxiety in young adults, to analyze the relationship between death anxiety and certain emotional correlates (aging anxiety, empathy and adult attachment),as well as to assess the contribution of each emotional correlate in the prediction of death anxiety. The participants in the study were 435 undergraduate students from two universities in Macedonia. The data was gathered with Templer/McMordie Death Anxiety Scale, Anxiety about Aging Scale, Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Adult Attachment Scale. The assessment of sex differences showed that females feel significantly more anxious and fearful than males when thinking about death. Nearly all tested correlates were significantly associated with anxiety as a response to awareness of death, but the highest correlation exists between death anxiety and aging anxiety, personal distress and emphatic concern as affective components of empathy, and anxious attachment. The first three correlates are significant predictors of death anxiety, that explain over a third in its variance. The findings are aligned with developmental aspects of death anxiety and terror management theory.

Кратка содржинаВо текстот се дискутира сложениот обем на психолошки промени што често се јавуваат во процесот на адаптација по доживеано трауматско искуство. Покрај препознатливата структура на посттрауматското стресно растројство дефинирана согласно со тековните дијагностички критериуми, претставени се и други, клинички релевантни прашања: повеќедимензионалната природа на посттрауматските процеси, холистичкиот пристап кон ефектите од трауматизацијата, заемната поврзаност на различните групи посттрауматски симптоми, специфичните ефекти од трауматските повреди на личноста и интерперсоналните посттрауматски последици. Прегледот вклучува и краток осврт на тековните насоки кон реконцептуализирањето на посттрауматското стресно растројство, како и на клиничките импликации од неусогласеноста меѓу психолошката природа на посттрауматската адаптација и дијагностичките рамки што ги определуваат и насоките за третман.Клучни зборови: посттрауматско стресно растројство, траума, адаптација 1 Abstract The paper discusses the complex range of psychological changes that often develop in the adaptation process after a traumatic experience. In addition to the well known structure of the posttraumatic stress disorder defined in accordance with current diagnostic criteria, other clinically relevant issues are presented: the multidimensional nature of posttraumatic processes, the holistic approach to traumatization effects, the interconnectedness of posttraumatic symptom clusters, the specific effects of traumatic personality injuries and posttraumatic interpersonal consequences. The review includes a brief overview of current PTSD reconceptualization efforts, as well as of the clinical implications of the disparity between the psychological nature of posttraumatic adaptation and the diagnostic frameworks that determine treatment guidelines.