Cultural adaptation and validation of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C) among Indonesian adolescents

Although mental health issues among Indonesian adolescents are of growing concern, a psychometrically valid measure of affect in Indonesia to inform related research and prevention and treatment efforts does not exist.

The present study’s aim was to culturally adapt and validate the widely used Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C) among Indonesian adolescents. The original 30-item PANAS-C in English underwent forward and back translations to Bahasa Indonesia (the national language of Indonesia) followed by cognitive interviews with private and public school students ages 12–15 (n = 18). The adapted PANAS-C and measures to assess convergent validity were completed by 704 Indonesian adolescents from Greater Jakarta and the Javanese city of Surabaya (M_age = 13.56, SD = 0.906) (56.96% girls; 42.75% boys; 0.28% other). Most participants identified their ethnicity as Javanese (72.59%), Betawi (8.24%), or Sundanese (3.41%).

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, which resulted in 26 items with a two-factor structure consistent with the original PANAS-C: A 12-item Positive Affect subscale and a 14-item Negative Affect subscale. Internal consistency was satisfactory for the Positive Affect subscale (Cronbach’s alpha was 0.88; McDonald’s omega was 0.88) and excellent for the Negative Affect subscale (Cronbach’s alpha was 0.90; McDonald’s omega was 0.89). Test-retest reliability was acceptable for all items, and convergent validity was confirmed by significant correlations with measures of distress and well-being.

The adapted PANAS-C was found to be a reliable and valid measure of positive and negative affect that can be used with Indonesian adolescent girls and boys. This is the first validated measure of positive and negative affect for young people in Indonesia, which fills a need in mental health research and practice.