Psychometric Properties of the Arabic  DASS-21 Scale

Fatimah Sayer Alharbi; Mugtaba Osman

doi:10.55074/hesj.vi36.966

Authors

Fatimah Sayer Alharbi Assistant Professor in Mental Health Psychology Department of Psychology, College of Education, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mugtaba Osman Consultant Psychiatrist, Armed Forces Centre for Psychiatric Care, Taif, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55074/hesj.vi36.966

Keywords:

Depression, Anxiety, Stress, DASS-21

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the Arabic DASS-21 questionnaire. A large-scale cross-sectional study of the Arabic adaptation of the DASS-21 scores. The participants (n= 1235) came from a variety of backgrounds. Overall, the reliability coefficient, Cronbach’s alpha, for the gross DASS- 21 score, was 0.94 (95% confidence interval CI between 0.93 and 0.94), indicative of excellent internal consistency. The three- factor model fitted acceptably for the full 21- item dataset. Nonetheless, some items were noted to load onto different factors to their original structure. Our study gives evidence of the excellent reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the Arabic adaptation of DASS- 21. We also confirm the acceptability of the current three- factor composition for the DASS- 21 in its Arabic version. We may conclude that, in its current format, Arabic DASS- 21 can be used in many public and secondary health settings to detect depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms.