title: Validation of a short adaptation of the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ) in adolescents and young adults.
abstract: The Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ) was developed to measure the symptom-dimensions of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression. A 30-item short adaptation of the MASQ (MASQ-D30) was previously developed and validated in adult psychiatric outpatients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the MASQ-D30 in a sample of adolescents and young adults. Help-seeking adolescents from Australia (N=147; mean age: 17.7 years; 58.8% female) completed the original, 90-item MASQ. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the construct validity (a 3-factor structure) of the original MASQ and the MASQ-D30. Internal consistencies and correlations with other instruments were calculated and compared between versions. CFA showed that the intended 3-factor structure fit adequately to the MASQ-D30 data (CFI=0.95; RMSEA=0.08). Internal consistencies ranged from 0.85 to 0.92 across the scales and patterns of correlations with the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) indicated adequate convergent/divergent properties. Importantly, the observed psychometric characteristics were comparable with the original MASQ and alternative short-forms. Results indicated that the MASQ-D30 is a valid and reliable instrument in young people, allowing for quick assessment of the tripartite dimensions of depression and anxiety.
authors.affiliation: University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ashleigh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Orygen Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alison R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Yung
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (ICPE), the Netherlands; Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johanna T W
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wigman
authors.affiliation: Orygen Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Eoin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Killackey
authors.affiliation: Orygen Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Gennady
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baksheev
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (ICPE), the Netherlands. Electronic address: k.j.wardenaar@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Klaas J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Wardenaar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001315:Australia; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010045:Outpatients; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescents; Anxiety; Depression; MASQ; Psychometric; Tripartite model; Validation