Depressive and Anxious Symptoms in Spanish Adolescents: Normative Data for the PHQ-9 and GAD-7

Background: The main objective of this study was to provide Spanish normative data for the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 (GAD-7) in a community-derived sample of adolescents. Method: A total of 2,235 adolescents (M = 14.68 years, SD = 1.76 years), selected through stratified cluster sampling, participated in the study. Results: Self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety were common. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing the means scores of PHQ-9 and GAD-7 across sex and age. Percentile scores were computed for both total scores and were stratified by sex and age. Conclusions: Both the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7 are brief, simple, and useful measurement instruments with adequate psychometric properties for the assessment of self-reported depressive and anxious symptomatology among Spanish adolescents. A reliable and valid assessment of mental health is essential, as it allows for early detection and identification, which in turn can help in guiding psychological preventive interventions in a critical human developmental stage such as adolescence. Antecedentes: El objetivo principal de este estudio ha sido proporcionar datos normativos para el Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) y el Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 (GAD-7) en una muestra comunitaria de adolescentes. M & eacute;todo: Un total de 2,235 adolescentes (M = 14.68 a & ntilde;os, DT = 1.76 a & ntilde;os), seleccionados mediante muestreo estratificado por conglomerados, participaron en el estudio. Resultados: Los s & iacute;ntomas autoinformados de depresi & oacute;n y ansiedad fueron frecuentes. Se encontraron diferencias estad & iacute;sticamente significativas al comparar las puntuaciones medias del PHQ-9 y el GAD-7 en funci & oacute;n del sexo y la edad. Se calcularon las puntuaciones percentiles para los valores totales y se estratificaron por sexo y edad. Conclusiones: Tanto el PHQ-9 como el GAD-7 son instrumentos de medida breves, sencillos y & uacute;tiles, con propiedades psicom & eacute;tricas adecuadas para la evaluaci & oacute;n de la sintomatolog & iacute;a depresiva y ansiosa autoinformada. Una evaluaci & oacute;n fiable y v & aacute;lida de la salud mental es esencial, ya que permite la detecci & oacute;n e identificaci & oacute;n temprana, lo que a su vez puede ayudar a orientar las intervenciones psicol & oacute;gicas preventivas en una etapa cr & iacute;tica del desarrollo humano como es la adolescencia.