Cross-cultural measurement equivalence of the seven item general anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7) in college students of six countries of Latin American

To identify cross-cultural validity evidence for the Spanish version of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7) in a sample of university students from six Latin American countries. Method: This study employed a descriptive, psychometric, and cross-sectional design to examine the factorial validity of the GAD-7, its measurement equivalence across nationalities, and item-level discrimination and difficulty parameters. Participants: The sample consisted of 2278 university students from six Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Paraguay) with a mean age of 21.9 years (SD = 5.41, range = 16–59). The sample was composed of 37.4 % men (n = 851) and 62.6 % women (n = 1427). Results: The findings confirmed the unidimensional structure of the GAD-7, along with measurement equivalence across nationalities from the six countries. The instrument demonstrated excellent internal consistency, and the discrimination and difficulty parameters for the items were found to be appropriate. Conclusions: The GAD-7 is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing generalised anxiety in university students from Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Paraguay. Nationality does not introduce variability in the measure, supporting its cross-cultural applicability.

• Autores: Moreno-Montero, Esteban; Moreta-Herrera, Rodrigo; Rodas, Jose A.; Oriol-Granado, Xavier; Puerta-Cortés, Diana Ximena; Ferrufino-Borja, Daniela; Diaz, Renzo Gismondi; Rivera, Marlon Elías Lobos; Samaniego-Pinho, Antonio; Buenahora-Bernal, Marcelo; Rojas-Jara, Claudio; Vega-Arce, Maribel
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2025
• Institución: Universidad de Ibagué
• Repositorio: Repositorio Universidad de Ibagué
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.unibague.edu.co:20.500.12313/6057
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12313/6057; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032725005385
• Palabra clave: Trastorno de ansiedad generalizada (GAD-7); América Latina - Trastorno de ansiedad generalizada (GAD-7); América Latina - Estudiantes - Trastorno de ansiedad generalizada (GAD-7); Anxiety; Classical test theory; Cross-cultural validation; Generalised anxiety disorder; Item response theory
• Rights: openAccess
• License: © 2025 Elsevier B.V.