Adaptation to Portuguese of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS)

Authors

  • João Luís Alves Apóstolo Higher School of Nursing Dr. Ângelo da Fonseca
  • Aida Cruz Mendes Higher School of Nursing Dr. Ângelo da Fonseca
  • Zaida Aguiar Azeredo Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences; Porto University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-11692006000600006

Keywords:

depression, anxiety, stress, scales, evaluation

Abstract

Objective: to adapt to Portuguese, of Portugal, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales, a 21-item short scale (DASS 21), designed to measure depression, anxiety and stress. Method: After translation and back-translation with the help of experts, the DASS 21 was administered to patients in external psychiatry consults (N=101), and its internal consistency, construct validity and concurrent validity were measured. Results: The DASS 21 properties certify its quality to measure emotional states. The instrument reveals good internal consistency. Factorial analysis shows that the two-factor structure is more adequate. The first factor groups most of the items that theoretically assess anxiety and stress, and the second groups most of the items that assess depression, explaining, on the whole, 58.54% of total variance. The strong positive correlation between the DASS 21 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) confirms the hypothesis regarding the criterion validity, however, revealing fragilities as to the divergence between theoretically different constructs.

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Published

2006-12-01

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 6 (2006)

Section

Original Articles

License

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How to Cite

Adaptation to Portuguese of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS). (2006). Revista Latino-Americana De Enfermagem, 14(6), 863-871. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-11692006000600006