Validation of General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaire in Spanish nursing students
Sergio Martínez‐Vázquez, Juan Miguel Martínez‐Galiano, Rocío Adriana Peinado‐Molina, Belén Gutiérrez‐Sánchez, Antonio Hernández‐Martínez
Abstract
Background Nursing students are at risk of anxiety during their university education. Objective To determine the psychometric characteristics of the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaire in a population of university nursing students. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out with 170 students at the University of Jaen (Spain) in 2022. An online questionnaire was administered that included sociodemographic and student profile variables, the GAD-7 questionnaire, and the Goldberg anxiety subscale. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA), validation with convergence, and reliability analysis using Cronbach’s α were performed. Results The EFA identified a single component that explained 63.50% of the variance. It was positively correlated with the Goldberg anxiety subscale ( r = 0.653; p < 0.001). A statistically significant association was observed with academic year, gender, and having experienced an anxiety crisis ( p < 0.005). Internal consistency with Cronbach’s α was 0.903. Conclusion The GAD-7 presents appropriate psychometric characteristics for use in a university population of nursing students. It is capable of detecting symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder, making it a useful and simple tool for detecting anxiety-related problems in this population.