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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1529424

Factorial Invariance of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) in Latin America and the Caribbean

Provisionally accepted
Norman López Norman López 1,2*Juan-Carlos Coronado Juan-Carlos Coronado 3Daniela Ripoll-Córdoba Daniela Ripoll-Córdoba 2Nicole Caldichoury Nicole Caldichoury 4César Quispe-Ayala César Quispe-Ayala 5Breiner Morales-Asencio Breiner Morales-Asencio 2Raúl Quincho-Apumayta Raúl Quincho-Apumayta 6Cesar Castellanos Cesar Castellanos 7Juan Martínez Juan Martínez 8Juan Cárdenas-Valverde Juan Cárdenas-Valverde 9Luis Mario Castellanos-Alvarenga Luis Mario Castellanos-Alvarenga 10David Salazar David Salazar 11Irina Flores-Poma Irina Flores-Poma 12Jorge Herrera Pino Jorge Herrera Pino 13Wendy Bada Wendy Bada 14Yuliana Flórez Yuliana Flórez 15Karen Alcos-Flores Karen Alcos-Flores 12Boris Zurita-Cueva Boris Zurita-Cueva 16Elsa Muñoz-Romero Elsa Muñoz-Romero 11Cristian Romo Cristian Romo 17Regulo Antezana Regulo Antezana 18Claudio Avila-Saldaña Claudio Avila-Saldaña 19Pascual A. Gargiulo Pascual A. Gargiulo 20
  • 1 Universidad Santo Tomas, Temuco, Chile
  • 2 Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Costa University Corporation, Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia
  • 3 Carrera Kinesiología, Departamento de Procesos Terapéuticos, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad católica de Temuco, Temuco, Chile., Temuco, Chile
  • 4 Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile
  • 5 Facultad de Pedagogía y Cultura Física, Universidad Nacional de Educación, Lima, Peru
  • 6 Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, 19 Huancayo, Peru, Huancayo, Peru
  • 7 Instituto Dominicano para el Estudio de la Salud Integral y la Psicología Aplicada (IDESIP), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
  • 8 Graduate School of Education, Ana G. Mendez University, Caguas, Puerto Rico
  • 9 Escuela de Posgrados, Universidad César Vallejo, Lima, Peru
  • 10 Escuela de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Comunicaciones, Universidad Santo Tomás, Temuco, Chile
  • 11 Facultad de educación, Universidad Nacional Daniel Alcides Carrión, Cerro de Pasco, Peru
  • 12 Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, Huancayo, Peru
  • 13 Associate Professor College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, United States
  • 14 Departamento Académico de Pedagogía y Humanidades, Facultad de Educación Intercultural y Humanidades, Universidad Nacional Intercultural de la Amazonia, Pucallpa, Peru
  • 15 Costa University Corporation, Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia
  • 16 Departamento de Neurocirugía, Omni Hospital, Guayaquil, Ecuador
  • 17 Departamento de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile
  • 18 Departamento de Ciencias y Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, Huancavelica, Peru
  • 19 Departamento de Ciencias de la Actividad Física, Universidad de Los Lagos, Puerto Montt, Chile
  • 20 Laboratorio de Neurociencias y Psicología Experimental. Área de Farmacología. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) has increased rapidly, highlighting the importance of its detection using quick tools applicable to men and women from different countries. Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Test (GAD-7) by gender and country in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Method: A cross-sectional e-health study with 12,124 participants from 15 LAC countries (54.32% women, 45.68% men) was conducted, including participants from Argentina (7.3%), Bolivia (6.7%), Colombia (10.3%), Chile (6.9%), Costa Rica (4.9%), El Salvador (5.7%), Ecuador (7.2%), Guatemala (4.7%), Panama (5.1%), Paraguay (5.7%), Peru (8.6%), Puerto Rico (5.8%), the Dominican Republic (6.6%), Uruguay (6.3%), and Venezuela (8.2%). All participants completed the GAD-7 scale digitally. Results: A unidimensional structure of the GAD-7 was confirmed, explaining 70% of the variance. The model fit indices were adequate (RMSEA = 0.062; CFI = 0.997; TLI = 0.995; SRMR = 0.017; p < 0.001), and the factor loadings for each item were satisfactory (> 0.70). Additionally, the factor structure showed measurement invariance between genders and countries, with adequate fit indices at all levels (configural, metric, scalar, and strict), suggesting that the measurements are equivalent in both contexts. Finally, the internal consistency of the GAD-7 was high, with a McDonald’s Omega coefficient of 0.91. Conclusions: The GAD-7 exhibits a factor structure that is equivalent across genders and countries, demonstrating its validity and reliability for the rapid detection of GAD symptoms in different countries within the region.

    Keywords: generalized anxiety disorder, Psychometric indicators, invariance, test, Latin American population

    Received: 16 Nov 2024; Accepted: 10 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 López, Coronado, Ripoll-Córdoba, Caldichoury, Quispe-Ayala, Morales-Asencio, Quincho-Apumayta, Castellanos, Martínez, Cárdenas-Valverde, Castellanos-Alvarenga, Salazar, Flores-Poma, Herrera Pino, Bada, Flórez, Alcos-Flores, Zurita-Cueva, Muñoz-Romero, Romo, Antezana, Avila-Saldaña and Gargiulo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Norman López, Universidad Santo Tomas, Temuco, Chile

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.