Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin America
Generalized anxiety has significantly increased in the general population during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for rapid screening tools. In this context, the present study analyzed the psychometric properties and internal consistency of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scal...
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SAGE Publishing
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Chronic Stress |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/24705470251315260 |
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| author | Norman López Breiner Morales-Asencio Daniela Ripoll-Córdoba Juancarlos Coronado-López Nicole Caldichoury César Quispe-Ayala David Salazar Yuliana Florez Irina Flores-Poma Cesar Castellanos Jorge Herrera Pino Indalecio Quispe-Rodríguez Juan Cárdenas-Valverde Karen Alcos-Flores Elsa Muñoz-Romero Kattia Cantillo-Pacheco Paola Martínez-Sande Loida Camargo Ninoska Ocampo-Barba Boris Zurita-Cueva Juan Martínez Cristian Araya Cristian Romo Regulo Antezana Raúl Quincho-Apumayta Pascual A. Gargiulo |
| author_facet | Norman López Breiner Morales-Asencio Daniela Ripoll-Córdoba Juancarlos Coronado-López Nicole Caldichoury César Quispe-Ayala David Salazar Yuliana Florez Irina Flores-Poma Cesar Castellanos Jorge Herrera Pino Indalecio Quispe-Rodríguez Juan Cárdenas-Valverde Karen Alcos-Flores Elsa Muñoz-Romero Kattia Cantillo-Pacheco Paola Martínez-Sande Loida Camargo Ninoska Ocampo-Barba Boris Zurita-Cueva Juan Martínez Cristian Araya Cristian Romo Regulo Antezana Raúl Quincho-Apumayta Pascual A. Gargiulo |
| author_sort | Norman López |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Generalized anxiety has significantly increased in the general population during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for rapid screening tools. In this context, the present study analyzed the psychometric properties and internal consistency of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) in healthcare workers and the general population in Latin America. A cross-sectional e-health study was conducted, surveying 11,279 Latin Americans online using snowball sampling. The sample included healthcare professionals, hospital populations, community members from various occupations, and university students from six countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, and Peru). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were performed separately for each country. Additionally, the instrument's internal consistency was evaluated by calculating McDonald's W index and item-total correlations based on the final items. The EFA revealed a unidimensional structure comprising the seven items of the instrument, which explained between 62.8% and 66.1% of the variance (KMO = between .900 and .910; p < .000). The CFA confirmed adequate fit indices for each country. The omega index ranged from 0.85 (Peru: CI = 0.800-0.884) to 0.95 (Argentina-Bolivia: CI = 0.901-0.985), and item-total correlations were high, ranging from .642 to .869, demonstrating the instrument's reliability. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that the GAD-7 is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing generalized anxiety symptoms in the Latin American population. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-deef771aa85f4acabcfc8a7a9bf3cf3e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2470-5470 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Chronic Stress |
| spelling | doaj-art-deef771aa85f4acabcfc8a7a9bf3cf3e2025-08-20T03:47:44ZengSAGE PublishingChronic Stress2470-54702025-03-01910.1177/24705470251315260Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin AmericaNorman López0Breiner Morales-Asencio1Daniela Ripoll-Córdoba2Juancarlos Coronado-López3Nicole Caldichoury4César Quispe-Ayala5David Salazar6Yuliana Florez7Irina Flores-Poma8Cesar Castellanos9Jorge Herrera Pino10Indalecio Quispe-Rodríguez11Juan Cárdenas-Valverde12Karen Alcos-Flores13Elsa Muñoz-Romero14Kattia Cantillo-Pacheco15Paola Martínez-Sande16Loida Camargo17Ninoska Ocampo-Barba18Boris Zurita-Cueva19Juan Martínez20Cristian Araya21Cristian Romo22Regulo Antezana23Raúl Quincho-Apumayta24Pascual A. Gargiulo25 Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Procesos Terapéuticos, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, , Temuco, Chile Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, , Osorno, Chile , Huancavelica, Perú Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, , Huancavelica, Perú Deceased Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga, Ayacucho, Peru Escuela de Posgrado, , Lima, Perú , Huancavelica, Perú Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento Médico, , Grupo de investigación Neurociencia y Salud Global, Cartagena, Colombia Instituto de Neurociencias Comportamentales (INCC), Facultad de Humanidades, Departamento de Neurocirugía, Omni Hospital, Guayaquil, Ecuador Graduate School of Education, Ana G. Mendez University, San Juan, Puerto Rico Escuela de Psicología, , Victoria, Chile Departamento de Ciencias Exactas, , Osorno, Chile , Huancavelica, Perú , Huancavelica, Perú Laboratorio de Neurociencias y Psicología Experimental. Área de Farmacología. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Generalized anxiety has significantly increased in the general population during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for rapid screening tools. In this context, the present study analyzed the psychometric properties and internal consistency of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) in healthcare workers and the general population in Latin America. A cross-sectional e-health study was conducted, surveying 11,279 Latin Americans online using snowball sampling. The sample included healthcare professionals, hospital populations, community members from various occupations, and university students from six countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, and Peru). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were performed separately for each country. Additionally, the instrument's internal consistency was evaluated by calculating McDonald's W index and item-total correlations based on the final items. The EFA revealed a unidimensional structure comprising the seven items of the instrument, which explained between 62.8% and 66.1% of the variance (KMO = between .900 and .910; p < .000). The CFA confirmed adequate fit indices for each country. The omega index ranged from 0.85 (Peru: CI = 0.800-0.884) to 0.95 (Argentina-Bolivia: CI = 0.901-0.985), and item-total correlations were high, ranging from .642 to .869, demonstrating the instrument's reliability. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that the GAD-7 is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing generalized anxiety symptoms in the Latin American population.https://doi.org/10.1177/24705470251315260 |
| spellingShingle | Norman López Breiner Morales-Asencio Daniela Ripoll-Córdoba Juancarlos Coronado-López Nicole Caldichoury César Quispe-Ayala David Salazar Yuliana Florez Irina Flores-Poma Cesar Castellanos Jorge Herrera Pino Indalecio Quispe-Rodríguez Juan Cárdenas-Valverde Karen Alcos-Flores Elsa Muñoz-Romero Kattia Cantillo-Pacheco Paola Martínez-Sande Loida Camargo Ninoska Ocampo-Barba Boris Zurita-Cueva Juan Martínez Cristian Araya Cristian Romo Regulo Antezana Raúl Quincho-Apumayta Pascual A. Gargiulo Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin America Chronic Stress |
| title | Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin America |
| title_full | Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin America |
| title_fullStr | Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin America |
| title_short | Internal Validity and Reliability of the GAD-7 Test in Latin America |
| title_sort | internal validity and reliability of the gad 7 test in latin america |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/24705470251315260 |
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