Construct validity and reliability of Amharic version of DASS-21 scale among Ethiopian Defense University College of Health Science students.

BACKGROUND: DASS-21 is the common and widely used tool for assessing depression, anxiety and stress. However, its validity and Reliability in Ethiopian Amharic language is not assessed. OBJECTIVE: To translate the DASS-21 and assess its validity and reliability among Ethiopian Defense University college of health science students in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. METHOD: An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 435 students from different departments in accordance with their proportional size were participated in this study. As to the sampling technique, the study units were selected from each department and year of study using simple random sampling proportional to size. Confirmatory factor analyses were employed to assess the factor structure and construct validity of Amharic version of the DASS-21. Cronbach alpha coefficient and corrected item total correlation was calculated to assess the internal consistency of Amharic version of DASS-21. RESULT: Among 435 undergraduate students who participated in the study, 246(56.6%) were the age of 18-25 year and majority 347(79.8%) were males. Regarding their year of study; 200 (46.0%) were first year students. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates a good model fit of the three correlated factors (Comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.92 with root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.059[0.052-0.066] and standardize root mean residual SRMR = 0.045). The internal consistency of overall DASS-21 and each sub scale were in acceptable range (0.91, 0.82, 0.77 and 0.77) respectively. CONCLUSION: Amharic version of DASS-21 was found to be a valid and reliable instrument to measure the mental problem especially, Depression, Anxiety and Stress among university students.

Construct validity and reliability Amharic version of perceived stress scale (PSS-10) among Defense University students.

BACKGROUND: Perceived stress scale (PSS) is the most widely used tool for assessing stressful life events and its management. However, its validity and Reliability in Ethiopian Amharic language is not assessed. OBJECTIVE: To translate the perceived stress scale (version PSS-10) and assess its validity among Defense University students in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. METHOD: From March to May 2020, an anonymous, self-managed questionnaire was used to collect the data on 758 undergraduate students of Defense University in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses were employed to assess the factor structure and construct validity of Amharic version of the PSS-10. Composite reliability coefficient and Item total correlation were calculated to assess the internal consistency of Amharic version of the PSS-10. RESULT: Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a two-dimensional PSS-10 with Eigenvalues of 3.4 and 1.6, which explained 50.7% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates a good model fit of the two correlated factors (Comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.96 with root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.04[0.03-0.06] and standardize root mean residual (SRMR) = 0.040). The internal consistency of PSS-10 and the Negative factor were in acceptable range, whereas the Positive factor was marginally acceptable (0.77, 0.78, and 0.68) respectively. CONCLUSION: The Amharic translated version of PSS-10 was found to be a valid and reliable instrument to measure the perceived stress level among university students.

Estimating spatially distributed SOC sequestration potentials of sustainable land management practices in Ethiopia.

The sustainable land management program (SLMP) of Ethiopia aims to improve livelihoods and create resilient communities and landscape to climate change. Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is one of the key co-benefits of the SLMP. The objective of this study was to estimate the spatial dynamics of SOC in 2010 and 2018 (before and after SLMP) and identify the SOC sequestration hotspots at landscape scale in four selected SLMP watersheds in the Ethiopian highlands. The specific objectives were to: 1) comparatively evaluate SOC sequestration estimation model building strategies using either a single watershed, a combined dataset from all watersheds, and leave-one-watershed-out using Random Forest (RF) model; 2) map SOC stock of 2010 and 2018 to estimate amount of SOC sequestration and potential; 3) evaluate the impacts of SLM practices on SOC in four SLMP watersheds. A total of 397 auger composite samples from the topsoil (0-20 cm depth) were collected in 2010, and the same number of samples were collected from the same locations in 2018. We used simple statistics to assess the SOC change between the two periods, and machine learning models to predict SOC stock spatially. The study showed that statistically significant variation (P < 0.05) of SOC was observed between the two years in two watersheds (Gafera and Adi Tsegora) whereas the differences were not significant in the other two watersheds (Yesir and Azugashuba). Comparative analysis of model-setups shows that a combined dataset from all the four watersheds to train and test RF outperform the other two strategies (a single watershed alone and a leave-one-watershed-out to train and test RF) during the testing dataset. Thus, this approach was used to predict SOC stock before (2010) and after (2018) land management interventions and to derive the SOC sequestration maps. We estimated the sequestrated, achievable and target level of SOC stock spatially in the four watersheds. We assessed the impact of SLM practices, specifically bunds, terraces, biological and various forms of tillage practices on SOC using partial dependency algorithms of prediction models. No tillage (NT) increased SOC in all watersheds. The combination of physical and biological interventions ("bunds + vegetations" or "terraces + vegetations") resulted in the highest SOC stock, followed by the biological intervention. The achievable SOC stock analysis showed that further SOC stock sequestration of up to 13.7 Mg C ha--1 may be possible in the Adi Tsegora, 15.8 Mg C ha-1 in Gafera, 33.2 Mg C ha-1 in Azuga suba and 34.7 Mg C ha-1 in Yesir watersheds.