An investigation of the use of the depression, anxiety and stress scale among Chinese young adults using rasch analysis

Empirical Research Background: The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (21 items) is a self-report public domain instrument assessing the negative emotions of depression, anxiety and stress. Each of the three subscales (depression, anxiety, stress) contains seven items. Though there is ample information on the reliability, construct validity and factor structure of this scale with various cultural groups, the scale‘s measurement properties have not been examined. Empirical Research Aims: This study examined the measurement properties of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (21-item) with Chinese young adults. Empirical Research Sample: Participants included a convenience sample of 206 Chinese college students recruited through a tertiary institution. Empirical Research Method: The participants were requested to complete the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and provided demographic information. Empirical Research RASCH: Rasch analysis was used to examine the measurement properties of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Empirical Research Results: Initial results identified a single underlying measurement dimension with a person reliability of .92, but data-to-model fit statistics indicated two items were outside the acceptable range. The reduced 19-item scale was identified as unidimensional with a person reliability of .92. The category thresholds calibrations indicated that the Likert-scale response categories worked well. Empirical Research Conclusions: These results suggest that the DASS-19 may be legitimately used as a global measure of negative emotions for Chinese non-clinical samples.