The psychometric properties of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) among Korean university students

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) is a practical self-report measure that screens for the severity of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in primary care. Previous studies have shown that the GAD-7 is theoretically sound, but the results regarding its psychometric properties have been somewhat inconsistent with both adult and student samples. Despite these findings, the psychometric properties of the GAD-7 have remained untested among Korean university students, for whom the identification of efficient measures of these constructs is especially important. To determine the psychometric properties of the GAD-7, the present study examined the internal consistency, convergent validity, and underlying factor structure of the GAD-7 with a sample of Korean university students. METHODS: The sample consisted of 582 students attending a four-year university in South Korea. All participants completed the Korean version of the GAD-7, the Depression Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The factor structure of the GAD-7 was assessed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and its convergent validity was determined by investigating its correlations with the DASS-21 and PHQ-9. RESULTS: CFA procedures confirmed that a modified one-factor model was an acceptable solution. The internal consistency of the scale was excellent. The GAD-7 showed a moderate to strong correlation with the three subscales of the DASS-21 and with the PHQ-9, confirming convergent validity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that the modified GAD-7 is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing generalized anxiety symptoms in university students. Its use for research and health care practice is warranted.

Psychometric Properties of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-Mini in United States University Students

“…The unidimensionality and Cronbach alpha coefficients of the GAD-7 found in this study are congruent with studies conducted in other populations. For example, this study had strikingly analogous findings to those reported for Korean and Portuguese university students ( Bartolo et al, 2017 ; Lee and Kim, 2019 ). Similar findings also were reported for primary care patients ( Jordan et al, 2017 ; Johnson et al, 2019 ), psychiatric patients ( Dear et al, 2011 ; Kertz et al, 2013 ; Konkan et al, 2013 ; Rutter and Brown, 2017 ; Johnson et al, 2019 ), infertility patients ( Omani-Samani et al, 2018 ), the general population in several countries ( Konkan et al, 2013 ; Sousa et al, 2015 ; Hinz et al, 2017 ), adolescents ( Tiirikainen et al, 2019 ), individuals receiving care in a traditional medicine department in China ( Zeng et al, 2013 ), and in non-English speakers ( Mills et al, 2014 ; Sousa et al, 2015 ; Ahmad et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Brief questionnaires can help healthcare providers rapidly screen patients for a wide array of health conditions, including anxiety disorders. These same questionnaires can serve as self-help tools that can be delivered to consumers conveniently, economically, and privately by the Internet ( Donker et al, 2011 ; Lee and Kim, 2019 ). Access to health screening tools can provide individualized feedback that may encourage individuals with GAD symptoms to seek treatment from a professional.…”

“…Despite the prevalence of anxiety in young adults and the critical importance of understanding how this measure performs in this population, the only psychometric studies of the GAD questionnaires that could be located for this age group were for university students in Korea ( Lee and Kim, 2019 ) and Portugal ( Bartolo et al, 2017 ). Both of these studies found a single factor model of the GAD-7 to be appropriate for use in college student samples.…”

The COVID-19 Psychological Wellbeing Study: Understanding the Longitudinal Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK; a Methodological Overview Paper

“…Therefore, in the context of this study scores of 10 or above were considered indicative of those meeting the criteria for GAD. Previous literature has demonstrated the excellent psychometric properties of the GAD-7 across various clinical and non-clinical populations (Kertz et al 2013 ; Lee and Kim 2019 ; Rutter and Brown 2017 ; Spitzer et al 2006 ).…”

Loneliness in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional results from the COVID-19 Psychological Wellbeing Study

“…Symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder were measured using the seven item Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) [55] and the nine item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) [56]. Previous research has demonstrated the excellent psychometric properties of the GAD-7 [55,[57][58][59] and the PHQ-9 [60][61][62] across a range of clinical and non-clinical populations. In the current sample reliability was very high for the GAD-7 (α = .94) and for the PHQ-9 (α = .91).…”