Critical Review On Depression Anxiety & Stress Scale (DASS)

General information about the exam completed as part of the psychology assignment

The test’s title (including edition and forms if applicable)

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales Manual (2nd Ed) Sydney:

The exam title is Psychology Foundation, and the second edition is used for evaluating stress, anxiety, and depression, which are mental conditions assessed by questionnaires.

The test’s author(s)

The DASS test was developed principally by Lovibond et al. in 1983, with Wilson being the primary author between 1980 and 1982. The guidebook for assessing symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety prone characteristics was created by these writers. They utilized the exam to screen people who had these characteristics for mental health issues.

Year of publication, Publisher

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales manual (2nd. Ed.) Psychology Foundation, Sydney, ISBN 7334-1423-0. Is the most important testing assessment technique used by Lovibond, S.H., and Lovibond, P.F. in the year (1995) Emotional negativity in certain areas of mental illnesses is measured by the application of this self-assessment manual scale. The DASS scale is useful in expressing the scale for measuring emotional scales since it has characteristics of anxiety, sadness, and stress. This is a 42-question embedded questionnaire that is a condensed version of the DASS21. Each scale has seven components (Lovibond, S.H. & Lovibond, P.F. (1995). In comparison to the previous version of the DASS scale, the second edition permits the Self Analysis Questionnaire (SAQ) to be constructed for analyzing people’ stress, depression, and anxiety features.

Administering time needed (in minutes)

Because the DASS 2nd edition module incorporates each of the three aspects of mental illness of stress, anxiety, and depression, there are 14 questions in each of the three paradigms that add up to 42 questions in total. DASS, being a self-administered exam, normally takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete for each part. As a result, an adult will most likely need 15 to 30 minutes to complete all 42 questions.

Cost

Because the DASS questionnaire is accessible on practically every public website online as a worldwide podium, the fee for obtaining their whole testing scale pdf is a small amount of $55.00. It is via the minimum amount paid online that the questionnaire is entered, and the nominal charge is created, with the most recent update on July 26th, 2018.

Description of the test’s aim and nature

Type in general

A self-report is created with the assistance of this DASS inventory. It is a self-evaluative and self-administered scale test consisting of 42 questions that evaluate negative emotional states such as anxiety, sadness, and stress or tension. Similar features and contents are effectively established by the use of division to 2 to 5 elements (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The symptoms of depression include despair, dysphoria, devaluation, self-deprecation, anhedonia, a lack of interest and participation, and inactivity. This depression paradigm is thoroughly examined in order to effectively control personality traits. Through the anxiety scale of the emotional scale paradigm, the skeletal muscle impact, autonomic arousal effect, subjective arousal, and situational anxiety are shown. Nervous arousal in the emotional paradigm is established with the assistance of relaxation difficulties. Through the survey questionnaire, emotional worry is shown as agitation and disturbing attitude, as well as impatient and irritated and excessive response. As the DASS questionnaire is delivered to the respondent, the 4 point frequency and severity are regulated by scaling, allowing the level of emotional condition in those three categories to be critically established. The DASS scale is applied by the Self-Assessment or Analytical Questionnaire SAQ. This aids in the creation of internal consistency when meaningful discrimination is displayed in a variety of circumstances. The clinical environment is employed by researchers to administer this scale using a needs-based scale in which the individual delivers the appropriate answers against the three emotional aspects of anxiety, sadness, and stress or tension.

The population for whom the test is intended

The specific demographic criterion is addressed using the DASS 2nd edition self-analytical survey questionnaire. Although the first edition of the DASS was mainly aimed at 14-year-old teenagers, the second version is given to the whole adult population. The age range for which the test may be used varies from 17 to 69 years of age. With the aid of a norm as a sample, 1044 guys are included as part of the whole adult population for whom the DASS questionnaire survey is evaluated. A standardized threshold of 0.9 is developed by combining three emotional components of Depression, Stress, and Anxiety scales. As a result, the survey test is designed using the Manual of Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, 2nd edition. The three distinct mental evaluation sections target the emotional states of both boys and girls in this age range. This aids in the maintenance of depressed persons’ features, stress or tension oriented moods, and anxiety orientation. The 42 items of the DASS 2nd version cover the contents of each of the three dimensions.

The nature of the exam’s material

The particular natures of three emotional states across dimensions are reflected in this scale, which is included in the DASS survey of the second edition. It is the self-analytical scale that is used to conduct tests to subjects or persons who have crucial distinctive qualities that indicate such a propensity. The DASS scale 2nd edition determines three broad natures in the domains of Depression, Stress, and Anxiety. Each of the dimensions includes the following information about the criteria that have been implemented.

Depression Rating Scale:

The individuals are individually evaluated on the internal criterion aspects of the DASS survey, where symptoms of depression are collectively inferred. The individual is evaluated based on whether or not he or she feels self-deprecating in nature. When a sensation of gloominess, blueness, or disillusionment creeps in, it is evaluated. The idea that life has no significance or worth correlates with the prevalence of depression inside the individual. As a tested paradigm, having gloomy ideas about the future or the inability to feel fulfillment and delight is exhibited. Individuals with depressed tendencies exhibit a lack of interest, reluctance to participate, and a sluggish degree of initiative.

Scale of Stress:

The indicator agents are identified by applying the DASS scale to persons who are prone to symptoms of stress or tension. The DASS test is used to determine if a person is prone to stress or overarousal (Brown et al. 1997). The stress arousal is regulated when the person is faced to an inability to relax physically or a sensation of distress. Easy startling is controlled for the stress sensation via irritability, nervy, fidgety, or jumpy nature. There is a feeling of intolerance to delay and interruption, and the individual’s stress level is controlled and measured using the DASS scale of survey measure.

Scale of Anxiety:

That person is demonstrated throughout examination in effective areas with the assistance of predicting anxiety scale. The anxiety scale of the DASS survey is used to manage assessment features. There is a frantic aspect in which fear is effectively instilled in the person (Ruiz et al. 2017). There are emotions of shaking hands and a wobbly character that leave a residue and trace of anxiousness on the individual. When a person repeatedly expresses a preference for dry mouth, shortness of breath, and heart pounding, the individual is likely to be classified as anxious. Through the administration of the DASS module, the degree to which the person is nervous in emotional nature is effectively inferred by recognizing the amount of people’ palm sweatiness. Furthermore, using this scale, the individual’s proclivity for experiencing performance-related anxiety and the likelihood of losing control is examined, which contributes to the total comprehension of anxiety existing inside the person.

Sub-tests and individual results

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) module manages three standard integrated categories. As the entire DASS questionnaire survey has 42 questions, each of the three dimensions contains 14 items. The second version of DASS has seven components for each scale establishment (Ediz, Ozcakir&Bilgel, 2017). Internal capacity generates consistency, resulting in discrimination in a meaningful way. Depression is identified via qualities of anhedonia and abolition, as well as stress indicators like tension regularly and feeling apprehensive about problems, with the assistance of differentiated elements in anxiety that relax, panic, and hand sweating are addressed. For the subtest Depression, a score of 0-9 denotes normal, 10-13 as mild, 14-20 as moderate, 21-27 as severe, and 28+ as very severe. Similarly, in the case of subtest Anxiety, a score of 0 to 7 is deemed normal, a score of 8 to 9 shows a mild trace, a score of 10-14 suggests a moderate presence, a score of 15 to 19 indicates a severe presence, and a score of 20 or above is considered very high or severe. The Stress subtest on the DASS second edition scale ranges from 0 to 14, indicating a typical individual with no such incidences. A score of 15 to 18 indicates a mild presence of stress, a score of 19 to 25 shows a moderate presence of stress, a score of 26 to 33 suggests a severe presence of stress, and a score of 34 or more indicates an extremely severe presence of stress.

Types of items

The negative sentiments and emotional predictors or behavioral tendencies displayed by individuals in various contexts are integrated as survey questions (Nanthakumar et al. 2017). The stress rating scale is used to measure feelings of agitation, terror, trembling affects, and difficulties functioning. If a person indicates that they are having difficulties swallowing or are on the verge of having a panic attack, this is an indication of anxiety present in emotional integration. When a person is down, feels blue and dismal about the future, and behaves pessimistic, it is concluded that they have depression symptoms.

Directional clarity –

The second version of the DASS scale is a self-administered exam in which the scores of depression, anxiety, and stress are combined allowing individuals to be precisely classified in a certain quadrant. When the Self Analytical Questionnaire (SAQ) is used to identify the scale features, the researcher is encouraged to use this scale. The scale is used to forecast the results of persons who have whatever paradigm of negative emotional trait, resulting in significant discrimination. This enables the psychologist or researcher to focus the person’s subsequent dimension of interest and therapy in a certain direction.

This test’s technical evaluation:

Type

Scores are assigned to each answer made against each questionnaire emotional paradigm class (Coker, Coker &Sanni, 2018). After adding replies, the category in which the individual is recognized reflects the condition and degree of experience generated. The scoring key aids in indicating the degree of a certain dimension.

Sample for standardisation

There is a standard set up for which the DASS scale may be used as a second edition module where adults can be administered with the questionnaire. This implies that a standard sample of both girls and men are given with this test, and that DASS may be used to address age groups ranging from 17 to 69 years.

Commentary from Reviewers

Any negative emotional state may be identified with the use of the DASS second edition scale of emotional evaluation. People that exhibit maladaptive behavior in various forms may be examined and classified as being in the depression, anxiety, or stress class or group (Saricam, 2018). This makes the test score count as an indication of the level of susceptibility and determines the person’s course of therapy or intervention.

Evaluation

With the use of the DASS, the amount to which a person now falls in the dimensions of anxiety, stress, or depression is indicated. A quantitative value-based scale measure aids in the evaluation of the result. However, it suffers from the limitation of obtaining the percentage as opposed to the normative value due to scoring key oversimplification.

References

T.A. Brown, W. Korotitsch, B.F. Chorpita, and D.H. Barlow (1997). In clinical samples, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) have psychometric features. Behavioural Research and Therapy, vol. 35, pp. 79-89. A. O. Coker, O. O. Coker, and D. Sanni (2018). The 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale’s psychometric qualities (DASS-21). 12(2), pp. 135-142 in African Research Review.

 

B. Ediz, A. Ozcakir, and N. Bilgel (2017). Depression and anxiety in medical students: correlations between beck depression and anxiety inventory and depression anxiety and stress scale scores and student characteristics Psychology homework 1283829. Cogent Psychology, 4(1), 1283829.

 

S.H. Lovibond and P.F. Lovibond (1995). The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales manual. (Second Edition) Psychology Foundation, Sydney, ISBN 7334-1423-0.

 

S. Nanthakumar, R. S. Bucks, T. C. Skinner, S. Starkstein, D. Hillman, A. James, and M. Hunter (2017). The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assess untreated obstructive sleep apnea patients (OSA). Psychological evaluation, 29(10), 1201.

 

F. J. Ruiz, M. B. G. Martn, J. C. S. Falcón, and P. O. González (2017). International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 17(1), 97-105. The hierarchical component structure of the Spanish version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21.

 

H. Saricam (2018). In health control and clinical samples, the psychometric features of the Turkish version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were investigated. 7(1), 19-30, Journal of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy and Research.