Validation Of The Malay-Translated Version Of The Center For Epidemiological Study – Depression Scale (CES-D)

Objective: This study aims to establish the validity and reliability of the Malaytranslated version of the CES-D. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional study design. The participants were female inmates (n=90) from local prisons which were selected based on purposive-selective sampling. The analyses include face validation, factor analysis, and reliability testing. A test-retest was conducted within a one-week interval. Results: The mean score for depression among the participants is 18.97 (SD=6.51). Further descriptive analysis showed that 58.9% of them scored above the mean score, which is considered high. Preliminary construct validation analysis confirmed that factor analysis was appropriate for the Malay-translated version of the CES-D. Furthermore, the factor analysis showed similar factor loadings to the original English version. The total internal consistency of the translated version, which was measured by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, was equal to 0.75. The test-retest reliability of the total score, measured by Pearson’s correlation was equal to 0.69. Conclusions: Face validity, construct validity, and reliability analysis were found satisfactory for the Malay-translated version of the CES-D. The Malay-translated version of the CES-D was found valid and reliable to be used in future studies, with comparable properties to the original version and to previous studies.

The Malay-Translated Version of The Aggression Questionnaire (AQ): The Validity And The Identification Of Types Of Aggression Among Female Prisoners

Objectives: The aim of this study is to validate the Malay version of the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) for the purpose of the future study related to aggression. Furthermore, the study seeks to identify types of aggression hold by the female inmates. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed involving 90 Malaysian female prisoners. The analyses include descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability testing. After one-week interval, a test-retest was conducted. Results: The preliminary analysis confirmed that factor analysis was appropriate for the Malay-translated version of the AQ. The four factors structure was assessed but the factor loadings are remarkable different from the original versions. The total Cronbach’s alpha coefficients is very high (α= 0.91). The Pearson’s correlation however is low (r = 0.48) but acceptable for the instrument. Reliability of the subscales and the factors were also found satisfactory. Consequently, anger and hostility were identified as the most common types of aggression among the participants, followed by verbal aggression. In contrast, physical aggression was the least scored type of aggression. Conclusion: The Malay-translated version of the AQ was found to be valid and reliable to be used in future studies.