DASS-21 is an acronym of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 items. It is a set of quantitative measure along the 3 axes self-report scales designed to screen the emotional state of depression, anxiety and stress. The original DASS developed by Lovibond, S.H. and Lovibond, P.F. was a 42-item version and later modified into a shorter 21-item version. The test is available with 7 items per scale. Items belonging to their respective scales in this well-established instrument vary between items 1 to 21. Items 1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 18 belong to the stress scale. Items 3, 5, 10, 13, 16, 17 and 21 belong to the depression scale. Items 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 19 and 20 belong to the anxiety scale. Subjects are asked to use 4-points frequency/severity scales, the limits of which are the answer ‘nothing’ and the answer ‘most of the time’, to rate the extent to which they have experienced each state over the past week. As the scales of the DASS have been shown to have high internal consistency and to yield meaningful discriminations in a variety of settings, the scales should meet the needs of both researchers and clinicians who wish to measure current state or change in state over time on the three dimensions of depression, anxiety and stress. The Depression scale assesses dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest/involvement, anhedonia and inertia. The Anxiety scale assesses autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety and subjective experience of anxious affect. The Stress scale is sensitive to levels of chronic non-specific arousal. It assesses nervous arousal, difficulty relaxing and being agitate/upset, over-reactive/irritable and impatient.
According to Nurul Hidayah, a trainee counsellor in Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), the essential function of the DASS is to assess the severity of the core symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. The DASS is not a categorical measure of clinical instrument and cannot diagnose depression, anxiety or stress. It will give an indication whether any of these issues are having a significant effect on the person’s life at present. If the subject scores highly on any of the issues, these will need further exploration through conversation and thought may need a referral to a specialist who could then conduct an interview. The individual DASS score does not define appropriate interventions and based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of psychological disorder. They should be used in conjunction with all clinical information available to you in determining appropriate treatment for any individual. This is because emotional syndromes like depression and anxiety are intrinsically dimensional they vary along a continuum of severity (independent of the specific diagnosis). Hence the selection of a single cut-off score to represent clinical severity is necessarily arbitrary. This is one of the fundamental differences between the DASS and categorical measures based on psychiatric diagnosis. It must be recognized that clinically depressed, anxious or stressed persons may well manifest additional symptoms that tend to be common to two or all three of the conditions, such as appetite and sleep disturbances. These disturbances will be elicited by clinical examination or by the use of general symptom checklists as required. A scale such as the DASS can lead to a useful assessment of disturbance, for example individuals who may fall short of a clinical cut-off for a specific diagnosis can be correctly recognized as experiencing considerable symptoms and as being at high risk of further problems. The DASS may be administered and scores by non-psychologists, but decisions based on particular score profiles should be made only by experienced clinicians who have carried out an appropriate clinical examination. Self-diagnose can be misleading and potentially dangerous.
People above 14 years old is highly encouraged to do this test as it is suitable to identify any unconscious disturbances or triggers in people emotion. One may think that he/she is not facing any emotional disorders, but the DASS-21 is able to reveal and disclose the symptoms. This usually happen to individuals who had problem in past. If you are looking forward to take DASS-21 test, you may visit Ministry of Health’s website and also to obtain the full module of mental health unit. There are few advices that you need to consider while answering the test.
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AuthorNurul Shahidah Binti Muhammad Nur ArchivesCategories |