Validation of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression using the PANAS and PH-PANAS-C measures: exploring age and gender differences

The tripartite model of anxiety and depression (TRAD model) which differentiates disordered affect through three independent dimensions (positive affect:PA, negative affect :NA and physiological hyperarousal:PH) is used extensively. Issues raised recently in the literature relate to the independence of the TRAD dimensions, cross loading of items, poor model fit across varied samples and sex differences in adolescent samples. In Australia, TRAD-based instruments are widely used in adult and child samples, though the psychometric integrity of these instruments remains largely unexamined. The present study investigated the psychometric validity of two of the most widely used TRAD measures – the adult PANAS and child PH-PANAS-C in Australian adults (n=184) and children (n=115), gender and age-related differences. Principal components analysis supported the integrity of the TRAD model and the age-specific requirements of separate measures for use in adults and younger populations. No sex differences in adolescents were found for NA on the PH-PANAS-C