Discussion
Anxiety
DISORDER
This is the first study that reveals a 6-item second-order model with three specific factors of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-6). The new model is superior to the original and other competing models in a sample of Malaysian university students.Our findings (of the second-order model) are consistent with Doi and colleagues’ [The GAD-6 and its three subscales have shown good reliability. The results are supportive that the GAD-6 may provide both clinically useful summed score and subscale scores. Following Stochl et al. [It was unexpected that Item 3 (Despite the promising findings, the present study is not without limitations. First, the results were derived from the original 7-item version of GAD-7. It is not clear whether the 6-item second-order model can be replicated if the data were collected using the newly proposed GAD-6. Second, test-retest reliability and diagnostic validity of the GAD-6 are not examined. Finally, the GAD-6 has not been examined in other cultures and its generalizability is limited. Therefore, further studies with a more inclusive population spectrum are warranted to verify our findings and further investigate the psychometric qualities of the GAD-6.