Validation of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire in Korean Adolescents

OBJECTIVE The tripartite model categorizes symptoms of depression and anxiety into three groups: 1) non-specific general distress that is shared between depression and anxiety, 2) depression-specific symptoms that include low positive affect and loss of interest, and 3) anxiety-specific symptoms that include somatic arousal. The Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ) was developed to measure these three factors of depression and anxiety. The purpose of the present study was to test the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the MASQ (K-MASQ) in adolescents. METHODS Community-dwelling adolescents (n=933) were randomly assigned to two groups. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted in each group to identify the factor structure of the K-MASQ. The reliability and validity of the K-MASQ were also evaluated. RESULTS Our results support the three-factor structure of the K-MASQ in adolescents. However, we found that the specific items of each factor differed from those of the original MASQ. That is, the depression-specific factor was only related to low positive affect and not loss of interest, and the anxiety-specific factor included more items related to general somatic symptoms of anxiety. The reliability and validity of the K-MASQ were found to be satisfactory. CONCLUSION The K-MASQ supports the tripartite model of depression and anxiety and has satisfactory reliability and validity among Korean adolescents. The K-MASQ can be used to distinguish unique symptoms of depression and anxiety in Korean adolescents.