Six-country psychometric comparison of women responses to the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and the Child and Adolescent Behaviour Inventory (CABI) across cultures and time

Authors

• Francisco Antonio Calderón Alfaro, University of Oxford, United KingdomFollow
• Jamie Lachman, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• Catherine L. Ward, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Qing Han, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• Rosanne Jocson, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Ivo Kunovski, Institute Alternativa
• Stephanie Eagling-Peche, University of Oxford
• Rumaya Juhari, University of Putra Malaysia
• Kufre Okop, University of Cape Town
• Jennel Drezza Fe C. Reyes, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
• Viorel Babii, Health for Youth Association, Republic of Moldova
• Lucie Dale Cluver, University of Oxford
• Liane P. Alampay, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
• Marija Raleva, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Skopje, North Macedonia
• Frances E. M. Gardner, University of Oxford

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-27-2025

Abstract

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and the Child and Adolescent Behaviour Inventory (CABI) are freely accessible tools used to assess depression and externalizing symptoms, respectively. There is limited psychometric evidence on how these scales hold over time and across cultures. This study aims to evaluate the internal structure of both scales and their invariance across six countries and over two timepoints. Methods: Data from the ParentChat Pilot Study included information from 566 adults (85.51% female) with children aged 2 to 17. Only female data from North Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Philippines, and South Africa were used. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess invariance of each construct. Results: At baseline, the DASS depression subscale achieved scalar invariance across five countries ($CFI=0.973$, $TLI=0.956$, $RMSEA=0.060$, $SRMR=0.069$) and across timepoints ($CFI=0.990$, $TLI=0.979$, $RMSEA=0.037$, $SRMR=0.034$). The CABI extract achieved scalar invariance across two countries ($CFI=0.968$, $TLI=0.963$, $RMSEA=0.068$, $SRMR=0.085$) and across timepoints ($CFI=0.983$, $TLI=0.980$, $RMSEA=0.044$, $SRMR=0.067$).

Recommended Citation

Calderón Alfaro, F. A., Lachman, J., Ward, C. L., Han, Q., Jocson, R., Kunovski, I., Eagling-Peche, S., Juhari, R., Okop, K., Reyes, J., Babii, V., Cluver, L., Alampay, L. P., Raleva, M., & Gardner, F. (2025). Six-country Psychometric Comparison of Women Responses to the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and the Child and Adolescent Behaviour Inventory (CABI) Across Cultures and Time. Journal of Affective Disorders, 387, Article 119524.