Validation of the 12-item Chinese Depression Anxiety Stress Scales among Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) measure depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. While the 21-item DASS (DASS-21) have been extensively used, the brief 12-item DASS (DASS-12) have recently been validated. Nonetheless, the DASS-12 have not been investigated in the Chinese context. This study intends to validate the Chinese DASS-12 (CDASS-12) and compare it with the Chinese DASS-21 (CDASS-21) among Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates. Seven hundred and two (64.10% female) Hong Kong undergraduates aged 17–25 years (M = 20.22, SD = 1.55) completed an online questionnaire. The results supported the bi-factor structure and gender invariance for the CDASS-12. The ancillary bi-factor indices supported the unidimensionality of the CDASS-12 and did not support the use of the three subscale scores. The CDASS-12 demonstrated adequate albeit lower internal reliability and comparably good concurrent validity compared with the CDASS-21. The item response theory analysis found that the CDASS-12 had acceptable discrimination and difficulty, and the test provided more information for participants with average to high degrees of psychological distress. The findings provide evidence that the CDASS-12 are parsimonious and yet psychometrically sound measures of psychological distress for Hong Kong Chinese undergraduates.