Escalas abreviadas de Depresión, Ansiedad y Estrés (DASS-21): validez, fiabilidad y equidad en adolescentes peruanos

Abbreviated Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21): validity, reliability and equity in Peruvian adolescents. In recent years, an increasing prevalence of psychological disorders in adolescence, particularly anxiety and depression, has been observed. Despite their clinical importance, these emotional disorders are not addressed in a timely manner, among other reasons due to the lack of instruments for this age group. For this reason, this instrumental design study sought to analyze the validity, reliability and equity of the Abbreviated Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21). 731 Peruvian adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 (M = 15.46; SD = 1.00, 54% male), from three public educational institutions in the constitutional province of Callao participated. Evidence of content validity was analyzed and the 21 test items were statistically examined. Confirmatory factor analysis showed the relevance of the three-factor model: X2 / gl = 2.87, CFI = .91, TLI = .89, RMSEA = .05 and SRMR = .04. It was confirmed that stress is a predictor of anxiety (r = .88, r2 = .76) and depression (r = .86, r2 = .74), and that anxiety and depression (r = .86, r2 = .73) that these usually manifest together. The internal consistency coefficients alpha and omega > .80 demonstrate the high reliability of the three scales. Finally, the factor invariance analysis indicated that the instrument is equivalent according to age and sex. It is concluded that the DASS-21 has psychometric evidence for its use as a screening instrument in Peruvian adolescents. However, it is suggested to carry out future investigations to obtain more evidence of validity, reliability and invariance, and to elaborate normative data.