Using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS‐21) across cultures
Open accessAbstract
The DASS-21 is a well-established instrument for measuring depression, anxiety, and stress with good reliability and validity reported from Hispanic American, British, and Australian adults. However, the lack of appropriate validation among Asian populations continues to pose concerns over the use of DASS-21 in Asian samples. Cultural variation may influence the individual's experience and emotional expression. Thus, when researchers and practitioners employ Western-based assessments with Asian populations by directly translating them without an appropriate validation, the process can be challenging. We conducted a series of rigorous statistical tests and minimized any potential confounds from the demographic information. Following factor analyses, we performed multigroup analysis across six nations to demonstrate consistency of our findings. The advantages of this revised DASS-18 stress scale are twofold. First, it possesses fewer items, which results in a cleaner factorial structure. Second, it has a smaller interfactor correlation. With these justifications, the revised DASS-18 stress scale is potentially more suitable for Asian populations. Nonetheless, given limitations, findings should be considered preliminary.
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Convergent validity indicated that both DASS anxiety and depression subscales correlated well with other anxiety and depression subscales.
“Convergent validity also indicated that both subscales correlated well with other anxiety and depression subscales (Oei et al., 2013).”
From Maladaptive Perfectionism, Disguised Distress, and Help Seeking in the Culture of 'Saving Face': Links to Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms among Asian Youth (2019) · cites this paper as Oei et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Oei, T. P. S., Sawang, S., Goh, Y. W., & Mukhtar, F.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- University of Southern Queensland (AU)
- Universiti Sains Malaysia (MY)
- Corresponding author
- Sawang, Sukanlaya
- Venue
- International Journal of Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-12
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1018-1029
- ISSN
- 0020-7594 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-066X
- OpenAlex
- W1990781714
- Cited by
- 566
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 46 · 2025: 61 · 2024: 77 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 87 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 14.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Edinburgh Napier Research Repository (Edinburgh Napier University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- ResearchOnline at James Cook University (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
- University of Southern Queensland ePrints (University of Southern Queensland) (submittedVersion)
- Pure (Coventry University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- DASS-21, depression, anxiety, stress, cross-cultural validation, Asian populations, factor structure, psychometric properties
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Asia, Australia, Culture, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Stress, Psychological, Asian People
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