Adaptation and validation of the Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP) among undergraduate students

Abstract

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a newly categorized mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). It is characterized by a combination of psychological and physical symptoms that commence about a week before menstruation, subside during menstruation, and disappear after it ends. This disorder impacts the life and productivity of between 3% and 8% of women in Western countries. However, no information was found on the valid prevalence rate of PMDD in Malaysia. This may be due to the lack of reliable and valid instruments to assess the disorder in local populations. Hence, the current study aimed to address this issue by adapting and validating the Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP) into the Malay language. DRSP is one of the scales commonly used to assess PMDD and it was developed based on the diagnostic criteria of the disorder in DSM-5. Using surveys, 420 samples of undergraduate students from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) were recruited for this research. The study found that the reliability index (internal consistency) for the adapted Malay version of DRSP is excellent (? = 0.94). The validity indexes were acceptable for concurrent validities (r = 0.55-0.6), convergent validity (r = 0.72), and divergent validity (r = -0.37). Meanwhile, the exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors: Factor 1 (Psychological) and Factor 2 (Physiological). The results suggest that the adapted Malay version of DRSP is valid and reliable to be used among undergraduate students. It is hoped that the outcomes of this study will encourage future local research in this field.