Abstract
M.Com.
Depression, anxiety and stress are considered three of the most typical mental health
issues present within the workplace. Research concerning mental illnesses within South
Africa, and particularly within the South African workplace, is scarce. To address this
paucity in research the importance of utilising valid and reliable measuring instruments
in future research should not be underestimated. The objective of this study was thus to
validate a measuring instrument that is commonly used to assess mental illness, the
Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) for use in the South African working
population. The DASS-21 measures three common and disabling mental illnesses,
namely depression, anxiety and stress. A quantitative cross-sectional research design
was utilised and data was obtained from accessible adults in various workplaces and
industries across South Africa (N= 269). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used
to examine the data. The findings of this study proved that all 21 items are good items
that should be retained. The study also found that the DASS-21 has acceptable construct
validity and consist of a three-factor structure (depression, anxiety and stress). The
study further verified that the DASS-21 has good discriminant and convergent validity
as well as excellent reliability. As a result, this study confirmed that the DASS-21 is a
valid and reliable measuring instrument for use in non-clinical samples of working
adults in South Africa.