Psychometric Characteristics of the Romanian Adaptation of the GAD-7

The GAD-7 is a practical and short self-report measure that has been widely utilized for the screening of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a severe form of anxiety disorder that is difficult to identify. Previous studies have investigated the GAD-7 in different settings and various cultures, but often without reporting important internal validity-related indices. To determine the psychometric properties of the GAD-7, the present study examined the internal consistency, convergent validity, underlying factor structure and item discrimination using both Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item-Response Theory (IRT) models, within both a clinical and a non-clinical sample from Romania. A total of 747 participants, of whom 181 were clinical patients and 566 recruited from the general population, completed the Romanian version of the GAD-7, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale–21 (DASS-21), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). CFA results confirmed that a modified one-factor model was an acceptable solution for the clinical sample. The internal consistency of the scale was satisfactory for both samples. The GAD-7 strongly correlated with the three subscales of the DASS-21 and exhibited moderate correlations with the STAI, confirming convergent validity. Keywords: GAD-7; Psychometric properties; Adaptation; IRT; DASS-21; STAI