Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 42 (DASS 42)

Lovibond & Lovibond (1995).


Psychometric Properties of The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 42 (DASS). The DASS is a 42 item self-report inventory that yields 3 factors: Depression; Anxiety; and Stress. This measure proposes that physical anxiety (fear symptomatology) and mental stress (nervous tension and nervous energy) factor-out as two distinct domains. This screening and outcome measure reflects the past 7 days. Gamma coefficients that represent the loading of each scale on the overall factor (total score) are .71 for depression, .86 for anxiety, and .88 for stress. One would expect anxiety and stress to load higher than depression on the common factor as they are more highly correlated and, therefore, dominate the definition of this common factor (Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995). Reliability of the three scales is considered adequate and test-retest reliability is likewise considered adequate with .71 for depression, .79 for anxiety and .81 for stress (Brown et al., 1997). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have sustained the proposition of the three factors (p < .05; Brown et al., 1997). The DASS anxiety scale correlates .81 with the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the DASS Depression scale correlates .74 with the Beck Depression Scale (BDI).

[Above from: Devilly, G.J. (Manuscript in Submission). The Psychological Effects of A Lifestyle Management Course on War Veterans and Their Spouses.]

Key References:

Lovibond, S.H. & Lovibond, P.F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (2nd. Ed.). Sydney: Psychology Foundation.

Lovibond, P.F., and Lovibond, S.H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 335-343.

Antony, M.M., Bieling, P.J., Cox, B.J., Enns, M.W. & Swinson, R.P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10, 176-181.

Brown, T.A., Chorpita, B.F., Korotitsch, W., and Barlow, D.H. (1997). Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in clinical samples. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 79-89.

 

Relevant Links:

The DASS 42 is also available from the psychology department at the University of New South Wales and is available via their web site. This site provides more detailed information than here and was constructed by the developer of the scale. This site also provides the shorter DASS 21. The DASS manual can also be ordered via the DASS website.

The DASS 42

Please read each statement and circle a number 0, 1, 2, or 3 which indicates how much the statement applied to you over the past week

The rating scale is as follows:

0 Did not apply to me at all

1 Applied to me to some degree, or some of the time.

2 Applied to me a considerable degree, or a good part of the time.

3 Applied to me very much, or most of the time.

1.    I found myself getting upset by quite trivial things

 0 1 2 3

2.    I was aware of dryness of my mouth

 0 1 2 3

3.    I couldn't seem to experience any positive feeling at all

 0 1 2 3

4.    I experienced breathing difficulty (eg, excessively rapid breathing, breathlessness in the absence of physical exertion)

 0 1 2 3

5.    I just couldn't seem to get going

 0 1 2 3

6.    I tended to over-react to situations

 0 1 2 3

7.    I had a feeling of shakiness (eg, legs going to give way)

 0 1 2 3

8.    I found it difficult to relax

 0 1 2 3

9.    I found myself in situations that made me so anxious I was most relieved when they ended

 0 1 2 3

10.  I felt that I had nothing to look forward to

 0 1 2 3

11.  I found myself getting upset rather easily

 0 1 2 3

12.  I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy

 0 1 2 3

13.  I felt sad and depressed

 0 1 2 3

14.  I found myself getting impatient when I was delayed in any way (eg, lifts, traffic lights, being kept waiting)

 0 1 2 3

15.  I had a feeling of faintness

 0 1 2 3

16.  I felt that I had lost interest in just about everything

 0 1 2 3

17.  I felt I wasn't worth much as a person

 0 1 2 3

18.  I felt that I was rather touchy

 0 1 2 3

19.  I perspired noticeably (eg, hands sweaty) in the absence of high temperatures or physical exertion

 0 1 2 3

20.  I felt scared without any good reason

 0 1 2 3

21.  I felt that life wasn't worthwhile

 0 1 2 3

22.  I found it hard to wind down

 0 1 2 3

23.  I had difficulty in swallowing

 0 1 2 3

24.  I couldn't seem to get any enjoyment out of the things I did

 0 1 2 3

25.  I was aware of the action of my heart in the absence of physical exertion (eg, sense of heart rate increase, heart missing a beat)

 0 1 2 3

26.  I felt down-hearted and blue

 0 1 2 3

27.  I found that I was very irritable

 0 1 2 3

28.  I felt I was close to panic

 0 1 2 3

29.  I found it hard to calm down after something upset me

 0 1 2 3

30.  I feared that I would be "thrown" by some trivial but unfamiliar task

 0 1 2 3

31.  I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything

 0 1 2 3

32.  I found it difficult to tolerate interruptions to what I was doing

 0 1 2 3

33.  I was in a state of nervous tension

 0 1 2 3

34.  I felt I was pretty worthless

 0 1 2 3

34.  I was intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what I was doing

 0 1 2 3

36.  I felt terrified

 0 1 2 3

37.  I could see nothing in the future to be hopeful about

 0 1 2 3

38.  I felt that life was meaningless

 0 1 2 3

39.  I found myself getting agitated

 0 1 2 3

40.  I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself

 0 1 2 3

41.  I experienced trembling (eg, in the hands)

 0 1 2 3

42.  I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things

 0 1 2 3

Scoring:

Download the DASS 42 PDF file and the Scoring Template PDF file.

A sum of the scores for each of the seven questions completed by each participant, in each of the sub-scales, are then evaluated as per the severity-rating index below.

 

Depression

Anxiety

Stress

Normal

0 – 9

0 - 7

0 – 14

Mild

10 – 13

8 – 9

15 – 18

Moderate

14 – 20

10 – 14

19 – 25

Severe

21 – 27

15 – 19

26 – 33

Extremely Severe

28+

20+

34 +
 

Norms:  Normative data are available on a number of samples.  From a sample of 2914 adults the means (and standard deviations) were 6.34 (6.97), 4.7 (4.91), and 10.11 (7.91) for the depression, anxiety, and stress scales, respectively.  A clincical sample reported means (and standard deviations) of 10.65 (9.3), 10.90 (8.12), and 21.1 (11.15) for the three measures.