BackgroundThe Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS-II) is a self-report measure comprising 99 items divided into 18 non-overlapping scales that allows for a dimensional assessment of depression, anxiety, and bipolar symptoms. The IDAS-II is currently available in English, Turkish, Spanish, German, and Swedish. This study’s major goal was to adapt and validate the IDAS-II to the Romanian population.MethodParticipants from a community sample (N = 1,072) completed the IDAS-II (Romanian version) and additional measures assessing depression and anxiety disorders.ResultsItem-level factor analyses validated the unidimensionality of the scales, and internal consistency results indicated that most symptom scales had satisfactory alpha coefficient values. Based on previous structural analyses, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the IDAS-II scales confirmed a three-component model of “Distress,” “Obsessions/Fear,” and “Positive Mood.” Convergent and discriminant validity were established by correlational analyses with other symptom measures.LimitationsThis study was conducted using a sample from the general population and several of the employed measures have limitations. Specifically, the current study was unable to employ Romanian versions of the gold-standard instruments that assess well-being, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and claustrophobia.ConclusionThe IDAS-II (Romanian version) is the first clinical measure to assess internalizing dimensions of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) model that is available for the Romanian population.

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Previous studies indicated the effectiveness of using art-therapy methods in preventing psychological problems or improving emotional intelligence. In this study, 40 participants engaged in a narrative therapy–based intervention group (CILP group), aimed at increasing emotional intelligence. In parallel, another group (art-therapy group) also composed of 40 participants, using other art-therapy techniques was conducted. A control group, consisting of the same number of participants ( n = 40) who did not engage in any intervention, was included in the study. Results indicated significant increases in emotional intelligence in the CILP group between pretest and posttest. In addition, there were significant differences observed between the CILP group and the art-therapy group, as well as between the CILP group and the control group, all at the posttest stage. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are addressed.

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