Elsa Arrua-Duarte1, Marta Migoya-Borja1, Maria L Barrigón2, Igor Barahona3, David Delgado-Gomez4, Philippe Courtet5, Fuensanta Aroca3, Sakina J Rizvi6, Sidney H Kennedy6, Lena C Quilty7, Enrique Baca-García8. 1. Department of Psychiatry, IIS-Jimenez Diaz Foundation. Madrid, Spain. 2. Department of Psychiatry, IIS-Jimenez Diaz Foundation. Madrid, Spain; Autonoma University, Madrid, Spain. 3. Instituto de Matemáticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, Mexico. 4. Department of Statistics, Carlos III University, Madrid, Spain. 5. Département d'Urgences & Post-Urgences Psychiatriques, CHU Montpellier, Université Montpellier, France. 6. ASR Suicide and Depression Studies Unit, St. Michael's Hospital, Canada; Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada. 7. Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada. 8. Department of Psychiatry, IIS-Jimenez Diaz Foundation. Madrid, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, General Hospital of Villalba, Madrid, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Infanta Elena, Valdemoro, Spain; CIBERSAM (Centro de Investigació n en Salud Mental), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain; Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile. Electronic address: ebacgar2@yahoo.es.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Anhedonia is defined as the lack of enjoyment, engagement in, or energy for life's experiences. Only two scales to measure anhedonia have been adapted for use in Spanish-speaking populations. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) following translation and adaptation for Spanish population. METHOD: The study sample included 134 patients over 18 years of age with a range of psychiatric diagnoses. Those with substance use, decompensated medical conditions, illiteracy, or lack of fluency in Spanish were excluded. The structure of the Spanish adaptation was evaluated through factor analysis. Internal reliability was assessed through Cronbach's alpha and validity was measured using Pearson's correlation between total scores for DARS and its subscales and SHAPS score. RESULTS: A strong internal consistency was observed (Cronbach alpha = 0.92 for total scale score and 0.91-0.92 for subscale scores). Similarly, a significant and strong correlation between total scores for DARS and SHAPS was found (r = 0.51, p < 0.01). LIMITATIONS: The heterogeneous distribution of diagnoses included in the study may limit our results. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish DARS maintains the psychometric properties of the original questionnaire, with strong internal consistency and adequate validity. DARS is a specific questionnaire for evaluating anhedonia, incorporating elements that reflect motivation, interest, and effort, and one which offers possible advantages over other anhedonia scales.
BACKGROUND: Anhedonia is defined as the lack of enjoyment, engagement in, or energy for life's experiences. Only two scales to measure anhedonia have been adapted for use in Spanish-speaking populations. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) following translation and adaptation for Spanish population. METHOD: The study sample included 134 patients over 18 years of age with a range of psychiatric diagnoses. Those with substance use, decompensated medical conditions, illiteracy, or lack of fluency in Spanish were excluded. The structure of the Spanish adaptation was evaluated through factor analysis. Internal reliability was assessed through Cronbach's alpha and validity was measured using Pearson's correlation between total scores for DARS and its subscales and SHAPS score. RESULTS: A strong internal consistency was observed (Cronbach alpha = 0.92 for total scale score and 0.91-0.92 for subscale scores). Similarly, a significant and strong correlation between total scores for DARS and SHAPS was found (r = 0.51, p < 0.01). LIMITATIONS: The heterogeneous distribution of diagnoses included in the study may limit our results. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish DARS maintains the psychometric properties of the original questionnaire, with strong internal consistency and adequate validity. DARS is a specific questionnaire for evaluating anhedonia, incorporating elements that reflect motivation, interest, and effort, and one which offers possible advantages over other anhedonia scales.