Translation and validation of the Tamil version of depression anxiety stress scales-21

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) is a well-established scale designed to measure the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. DASS-21 has been translated into various languages, and findings conclude that it is psychometrically sound, with good reliability and validity. This study adapts and validates the psychometric properties of DASS-21 in the Tamil language. The instrument was administered to 511 Tamil speaking students ranging between 18 and 35 of age with an average age of 21 years. Results reaffirm that DASS-21 three-factor model shows excellent validity and reliability on the entire sample and groups based on age, gender, and residential area. They also find support in different hierarchical variance measurement models (metric, scalar, strict models). This study concludes that Tamil DASS-21 can be used as a universal measure to map symptoms and screen for depression, anxiety, and stress in any circumstances. Our findings provide roadmap for future research on the Tamil version of DASS-21 with specific focus on its clinical use.