Validation of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in Mexican population with eating disorders

Abstract Eating disorders (ED) are psychiatric diseases characterized by the alteration of the caloric intake. Besides, ED have a high comorbidity with depression and anxiety. In Mexico, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) has shown to be a valid and reliable instrument in patients with HIV, cancer, and obesity but its psychometric properties have not been assessed in patients with ED, being the latter the aim of this research. A total of 325 patients ( M age  = 22.0, SD  = 9.7), completed the HADS. Based on principal axis factoring and oblimin rotation the scale yielded 12 items divided into two subscales: Depression (with nine items) and Anxiety (with three items). With this structure was confirmed the internal consistency of the scale ( α  = 0.88) and the two subscales ( α  > 0.80), however the items did not group in the same order than they did in the original scale, for this reason the new configuration of the HADS was analyzed in detail based on the features of the population where the scale was examined, this means, in patients with ED .