Psychometric Analysis of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (Youth Version): A Multidimensional Rasch Model Approach

  1. Agnes O. Okeke
  2. Catherine U. Ene
  3. Basil C. E. Oguguo
  4. Francis E. Ikeh
  5. Christopher A. Ocheni
  6. Bianca U. Mbonu-Adigwe
  7. Samuel U. Nwani

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Abstract

Background/Objectives: A recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that more than one in every eight adults and adolescents experience a mental disorder, including depression, anxiety, and stress. Reliable measures are needed to assess these conditions in youth. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Youth version (DASS-Y) using the multidimensional Rasch Model. Methods: The study used the DASS-Y data publicly available on the Science Data Base for the analysis. The DASS-Y comprises 21 items on a 4-point scale and was administered to a sample of 575 (56.2% females, 43.7% males, and 0.2% others) youths aged 19 to 29 years (average age = 23.32), with data retrieved from the Science Data Bank Database. Using the multidimensional Rasch model and the TAM package in R, the analysis focused on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), item fit statistics (Infit/Outfit residuals), dimensionality evaluation, category threshold evaluation, and person-item targeting across the depression, anxiety, and stress subscales. Results: The findings revealed that the DASS-Y has a multidimensional structure aligning with the theoretical subscales, with most items demonstrating acceptable fit statistics (1.400.6) and ordered category thresholds under the multidimensional framework, compared to the unidimensional model. The scale showed good targeting for this youth sample, providing evidence that supports the interpretation and use of DASS-Y in assessing emotional distress in youth using Rasch Rasch-based approach. Conclusions: These findings would contribute to the understanding of the scale’s measurement properties and its suitability for clinical and research use in youth mental health assessment.

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  2. Version published to 10.20944/preprints202508.1965.v1