Validez e invarianza de la escala DAS-10 en estudiantes universitarios durante el confinamiento por el COVID-19

Depression, anxiety, and stress represent a mental health problem that has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, so reliable instruments are needed to evaluate them. The objective of this study is to assess the validity and factorial invariance of the depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS) scale in Mexican university students during confinement due to COVID-19: 39.4% (208) were men and 60.6% (320) were women. The mean age was 22.04 (SD = 3.81) and the age range was 18 to 35. An instrumental study with 528 young university students from a public University in Mexico was conducted. The DAS-10 scale was applied. Finally, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. An alternate model of 10 items grouped into two factors emerged with adequate fit indices: X2/gl = 1.43, CFI = .990, SRMR = .029, RMSEA = .038 [.002, .060]. In addition, evidence of convergent and divergent validity, as well as invariance by sex, was found. The DAS-10 scale is presented as a suitable instrument to evaluate depression and anxiety quickly and efficiently.