ArticlePloS one2026
Cross-national validation of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) in Lebanese and Chinese adolescents.
Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
backgroundThe Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) has been validated in several countries, but its measurement equivalence between Middle Eastern and East Asian adolescents remains untested, and prior validations primarily relied on single analytic approaches without examining complex factor structures or brief screening forms. This study evaluated the DASS-Y in Lebanese adolescents enduring sociopolitical strain and Chinese adolescents under comparatively stable conditions.
methodsThe sample comprised 758 Lebanese (M age = 15.95, SD = 1.78; 63.2% female) and 1,062 Chinese adolescents (M age = 16.83, SD = 0.59; 47.5% female). Psychometric properties were examined using confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), and bifactor variants of both. Differential item functioning was assessed using Rasch analysis. Reliability was indexed by composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE), and person separation reliability.
resultsLebanese adolescents showed a largely unidimensional pattern, whereas an ESEM solution better represented the Chinese data. Reliability was strong in both samples (subscale CR = 0.91 to 0.95, AVE = 0.58 to 0.71, person separation reliability = 0.79 to 0.85; total CR = 0.97 in both samples; total AVE = 0.63 for the Lebanese and 0.61 for the Chinese sample). Several items, mainly in the stress subscale, functioned non-equivalently across samples. The 12-item short form performed comparably (subscale CR = 0.88 to 0.92, AVE = 0.65 to 0.73; total CR = 0.96 and 0.94; total AVE = 0.64 and 0.57, respectively).
conclusionsLebanese adolescents' responses reflected a unitary distress construct, whereas Chinese adolescents' responses showed greater differentiation among depression, anxiety, and stress, though a general distress factor remained dominant in both samples. Reliability was high throughout, so this divergence is structural rather than a matter of measurement precision. The 12-item form offers a practical screening option pending further cross-national confirmation.
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