Open AccessValidity and reliability of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) among university students of Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Tahia Anan Dhira,
Mahir A. Rahman,
Abdur Razzaque Sarker,
Jeenat Mehareen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0261590
Subject(s) - generalized anxiety disorder , cronbach's alpha , confirmatory factor analysis , structural equation modeling , convergent validity , psychology , clinical psychology , goodness of fit , anxiety , patient health questionnaire , context (archaeology) , exploratory factor analysis , statistics , psychiatry , psychometrics , mathematics , depressive symptoms , paleontology , internal consistency , biology
This study investigated the reliability and factorial validity of General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in the context of university students in Bangladesh. The research aimed to assess whether the original one-dimensional model or a model containing both somatic and cognitive-emotional factors is appropriate. A repeated cross-sectional survey design based on convenience sampling was used to collect data from 677 university students. 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 Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety-Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS). Results showed excellent reliability of GAD-7 as measured by Cronbach’s α. CFA suggested that a modified one-factor model is appropriate for the sample. This model provided high values of comparative fit index (CFI), goodness of fit index (GFI), and Tucker Lewis Index (TLI), low value of standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) and a non-significant root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Correlation between GAD-7 and PHQ-9 was 0.751 and 0.934 between GAD-7 and PHQ-ADS. Overall, the study provided support for modified unidimensional structure for GAD-7 and showed high internal consistency along with good convergent validity.