The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults

Psychometric work on the widely used Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) has mostly used classical psychometrics and ignored common internet-administered versions. Therefore, the present study used not only classical, but also modern psychometrics based on item response theory (IRT) to evaluate an internet-administered version of the DASS (Dutch translation). Internet-administered DASS data were collected as part of a large internet-based study in the Dutch adult population (n = 7972). Initially, external correlates (i.e. demographics other measures) and some classical psychometrics (i... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Wardenaar, Klaas J.
Wanders, Rob B. K.
Jeronimus, Bertus F.
de Jonge, Peter
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
Reihe/Periodikum: Wardenaar , K J , Wanders , R B K , Jeronimus , B F & de Jonge , P 2018 , ' The Psychometric Properties of an Internet-Administered Version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) in a Sample of Dutch Adults ' , Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment , vol. 40 , no. 2 , pp. 318-333 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9626-6
Schlagwörter: DASS / Psychometric / Validation / Item response theory / Internet-based / Linking / 16-ITEM QUICK INVENTORY / NONCLINICAL SAMPLE / CLINICAL-SAMPLES / NEGATIVE AFFECT / NORMATIVE DATA / SYMPTOMATOLOGY / VALIDITY / PANAS
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28619650
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://hdl.handle.net/11370/8e2dc08b-96ed-4535-93ae-7492b66d6b35

Psychometric work on the widely used Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) has mostly used classical psychometrics and ignored common internet-administered versions. Therefore, the present study used not only classical, but also modern psychometrics based on item response theory (IRT) to evaluate an internet-administered version of the DASS (Dutch translation). Internet-administered DASS data were collected as part of a large internet-based study in the Dutch adult population (n = 7972). Initially, external correlates (i.e. demographics other measures) and some classical psychometrics (internal consistency, convergent/divergent validity) of the DASS scales were evaluated. Next, IRT was used to investigate the scales' dimensionality, discrimination and item-functioning. Finally, the DASS depression scale was further investigated by linking it to the more clinically-oriented Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) using item response theory (IRT). Initial classical psychometric analyses supported the scales' internal consistency (alpha = 0.94-0.98) and convergent/divergent validity. IRT analyses showed that each of the DASS scales was only suitable to measure variations in a very narrow and rather mild severity range. Linking the DASS depression scale with the QIDS also showed that the DASS depression scale discriminated best in the mild-moderate severity range, but not at higher severity levels that were covered by the QIDS. In conclusion, the scales of the internet-administered DASS show good internal consistency and validity. However, users should be aware that the scales discriminate best at mild-moderate severity ranges in the general population.