The Validity and Reliability of Psychometric Profile for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21) Instrument among Malaysian Undergraduate Students

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the psychometric attributes of DASS21 instrument of depression, anxiety, and stress among Malaysian university undergraduate students, where negative emotional disturbance is evaluated in the respect of frequency and severity. During this study, English and Malay were the languages used for the descriptive investigation on the severity of emotional disturbance and psychometrics analysis. A crosssectional study was conducted among (N = 390) undergraduate students from Universiti Putra Malaysia, through a simple random exercise. This was followed by collection of data on the final respondents through AMOS for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement. An excellent structure of the 21-items in three DASS21 sub-constructs was displayed, with 18 out of 21 items were produced from adequate construct validity. It exhibited a positive factor loading, which amounted to 0.5 and higher. In terms of internal consistency, the alpha values for anxiety (𝛼 = 0.850), stress (𝛼 = 0.859), and depression (𝛼 = 0.910) were shown. A positive consistency of Cronbach's Alpha (𝛼 = 0.926) could also be seen from the overall score where all items were included. Thus, DASS21 can be utilized as a measurement tool to identify the health condition of students with negative emotional disturbances.

Evaluation of two weight stigma scales in Malaysian university students: weight self-stigma questionnaire and perceived weight stigma scale

“…The psychometric properties of the DASS-21 have been widely investigated and supported [28,29]. It has been also validated among Malaysian university students [30]. In the present study, the internal consistency of the DASS-21 was satisfactory (α = 0.92 for depression subscale; 0.86 for anxiety subscale; and 0.91 for stress subscale).…”

Internet-Related Instruments (Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale, Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, and Nomophobia Questionnaire) and Their Associations with Distress among Malaysian University Students

“…A higher score on the DASS-21 indicates a higher level of psychological distress. The scale has shown high internal consistency reliability (α = 0.926) and adequate construct validity among Malaysian university students [ 27 ].…”

Cyberbullying, Social Media Addiction and Associations with Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Medical Students in Malaysia

“…Psychological distress was screened using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) which is a widely used screening tool to assess depression, anxiety, and stress in the community setting and has been demonstrated to have good validity and reliability among Malaysian university students [ 42 ]. The DASS-21 consists of the depression, anxiety, and stress subscales with 7 items per scale with scores ranging from 0 ( Did not apply to me at all ) to 3 ( Applied to me very much, or most of the time ).…”