Psychometric evaluation of the depression anxiety stress scale 8-items (DASS-8)/DASS-12/DASS-21 among family caregivers of patients with dementia

Abstract

Patients with dementia express a set of problematic and deteriorating symptoms, along with self-care dependency. Over time, the mental health of family caregivers of persons with dementia may be affected, putting them at a high risk for psychopathology, which may be associated with endangered wellbeing of people with dementia. This cross-sectional instrumental design study examined the psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8), DASS-12, and DASS-21 in a convenient sample of 571 caregivers from northern Italy and southern Switzerland (mean age = 53 years, SD = 12, range = 24–89 years). A bifactor structure of the three measures had the best fit; some items of the DASS-12/DASS-21 failed to load on their domain-specific factors. The three-factor structure was invariant across various groups (e.g., gender and education), expressed adequate reliability and convergent validity, and had strong positive correlation with the three-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS3). Distress scores did not differ among carers of different types of dementia (Alzheimer's disease vs. other types, e.g., vascular dementia). However, distress scores were significantly high among female individuals, adult children caregivers, those caring for dependent patients, and those who received help with care. For 54.9 and 38.8% of the latter, care was provided by relatives and health professionals, respectively. Since the DASS-8 expresses adequate psychometrics comparable with the DASS-21, it may be used as a brief measure of distress in this population.

Not all mindfulness is equal: certain facets of mindfulness have important implications for well-being and mental health across the lifespan

“…Mental health was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-12 (DASS-12; Osman et al, 2012 ; Ali et al, 2022 ), which asked participants to rate their intensity of symptoms over the last week. The 12-item measure assesses three subscales by four items each: depression (e.g., I felt down-hearted and blue), anxiety (e.g., I experienced trembling) and stress (e.g., I found it difficult to relax).…”

The Impact of Event Scale-Revised: Examining Its Cutoff Scores among Arab Psychiatric Patients and Healthy Adults within the Context of COVID-19 as a Collective Traumatic Event

“…The continuous scores of the IES-R and its subscales were used to differentiate those with high and low self-reported levels of distress. For this purpose, we used the average of two reported cutoff scores of the DASS-8 (13.5 + 14.5 = 14) [ 46 , 47 ] to convert the DASS-8 into a two-category variable, which reflects higher and lower levels of distress. In both samples, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) technique was used to investigate the cutoff scores of the IES-R and its six subscales, which might distinguish those with high and low self-reported levels of distress.…”

Creative Art Therapy for Improving Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Patients with Stroke: A Quasi-Interventional Study

“…This scale is valid and reliable, with alpha values of 0.81, 0.89, and 0.78 for the subscales of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively ( Coker et al, 2018 ). This Arabic-DASS-21 has strong psychometric properties among a wide range of discipline in Arabic populations, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.95 ( Ali et al, 2022 ; Dwekat et al, 2021 ).…”