Validation of the General Attitude and Belief Scale

The purpose of this study was to provide further validational information on the General Attitude and Belief Scale (e.g., DiGiuseppe, Leaf, Exner & Robin, 1988). Particular interest was in determining further the factor structure of the General Attitude and Belief Scale as confirming REBT theory concerning the nature of irrational thinking. A sample of 236 males and 490 females drawn from a variety of populations completed the General Attitude and Belief Scale as well as a number of cross-validational measures (Spielberger's Trait Anxiety, Curiosity and Anger Scales, Spielberger's Anger Expression Scale, Beck's Depression Inventory (short-form) and Diener's Life Satisfaction Scale). A second sample of 18 couples receiving on-going marriage counselling and 43 couples not receiving counselling also completed the General Attitude and Belief Scale. A principal factors analysis yielded one factor of rationality and six irrationality factors (need for achievement, need for approval, demands for fairness, need for comfort, self-downing and other-downing). Significant correlations were obtained between the seven sub-scales of the General Attitude and Belief Scale and cross-validational measures. The clinical group of distressed couples scored lower in rationality and higher on three of the six sub-scales of irrationality. The findings support the continued use of the General Attitude and Belief Scale as a research instrument and of value to practitioners.     

Efficacy of a Manualized and Workbook-Driven Individual Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder is a prevalent and impairing disorder for which viable cognitive-behavioral therapies exist. However, these treatments have not been easily packaged for dissemination and may be underutilized as a result. The current study reports on the findings of a randomized controlled trial of a manualized and workbook-driven individual cognitive-behavioral treatment for social anxiety disorder (Hope, Heimberg, Juster, & Turk, 2000; Hope, Heimberg, & Turk, 2006). This treatment package was derived from an empirically supported group treatment for social anxiety disorder and intended for broad dissemination, but it has not previously been subjected to empirical examination on its own. As a first step in that examination, 38 clients seeking treatment for social anxiety disorder at either the Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University or the Anxiety Disorders Clinic of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were randomly assigned to receive either immediate treatment with this cognitive-behavioral treatment package or treatment delayed for 20 weeks. Evaluation at the posttreatment/postdelay period revealed substantially greater improvements among immediate treatment clients on interviewer-rated and self-report measures of social anxiety and impairment. Three-month follow-up assessment revealed maintenance of gains. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Construction and Validation of Afterlife Belief Scale for Muslims

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale in Urdu language for measuring different dimensions of afterlife belief. The scale was subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 504 individuals (235 men and 269 women) recruited from different cities in the Punjab, Pakistan. After exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, 16 items were retained with three well-defined factor structures of afterlife belief: positive, negative, and extinction. The alpha coefficients of the subscales ranged from .65 to .78. Convergent and discriminant validity of the subscales of Afterlife Belief Scale was determined by finding its relationship with the Pleasant Afterlife Belief Scale, the Unpleasant Afterlife Belief Scale, the Anxiety Subscale of DASS, and the Belief in Equitable World Scale. The results support that the newly developed scale has promising validity.     

Irrational beliefs and the anxiety disorders

This study investigated the levels of irrationality reported by a clinical sample of anxiety disorder patients, including simple and social phobics, panic disorder patients, agoraphobics, and obssessive compulsive patients. The levels of irrationality were compared between these groups and a group of normal control subjects, using the Rational Behavior Inventory (RBI). Agoraphobic patients were significantly less rational than control subjects on six of the RBI's subfactors and the total score of the Inventory. Patients in all diagnostic categories except simple phobia were significantly different from control subjects on the projected misfortune subfactor, and patients in all categories except simple phobia and panic disorder were significantly different from controls on the total RBI score. There were only four instances where patients in anxiety disorder categories significantly differed from each other in levels of irrationality. The implications of these findings, methodological limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.Joseph A. Himle, ACSW is a Clinical Social Worker at the Anxiety Disorders Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan. David P. Himle, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan. Bruce A. Thyer, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Georgia and Faculty Fellow at the University Affiliated Program. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia.     

Divergent, criterion-related, and discriminant validities for the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale

Three analyses were carried out. Analysis I estimated the correlation between the total score of the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and a self-rating scale of happiness with large sample of male (n = 1,312) and female (n = 1,272) Kuwaiti adolescents. Pearson product-moment correlations were -.43 and -.44 (p < .001) for boys and girls, respectively, suggesting divergent validity of the anxiety scale. Analysis II examined the correlations between scores on the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and the Somatic Symptoms Inventory for a nonclinical sample of women (n = 30), and female outpatients with anxiety disorder (n = 30). Pearson product-moment correlations were, respectively, .85 and .53, (p < .001), which support the criterion-related validity of the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale with respect to the Somatic Symptoms Inventory. In Analysis III a sample of 60 male and female outpatients with anxiety disorder and 60 nonclinical participants were matched on age, education, and occupation. All responded individually to the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale. Significant differences among groups, especially noticeable for men, support the discriminant validity of the scale. So, the clinical as well as research use of the scale can be recommended. By and large, the divergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validities of the scale have been adequately supported so subsequent replication is expected.     

Three traditional and three new childhood anxiety questionnaires: their reliability and validity in a normal adolescent sample

The current study examined the psychometrics of three traditional [i.e., the trait anxiety version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), and the Fear Survey Schedule for Children - Revised (FSSC-R)] and three new childhood anxiety scales [the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), and the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS)] in a large sample of normal adolescents (N=521). Childhood anxiety scales were generally found to be reliable in terms of internal consistency. Furthermore, evidence was obtained for the convergent and divergent validity of the various anxiety questionnaires. That is, anxiety questionnaire scores were found to be substantially intercorrelated. Particularly strong associations were found between total scores of the STAIC and the RCMAS, total scores of the SCARED and the SCAS, and between subscales that intend to measure specific categories of anxiety symptoms. Childhood anxiety questionnaires were substantially connected to an index of depression, although correlations among anxiety questionnaires were generally higher than those between anxiety scales and a measure of depression.     

Relationship of M.S. Belief Scale scores to depression and anxiety in hospitalized psychiatric patients

The M.S. Belief Scale (MSB) was administered to 61 psychiatric hospital patients on admission and just prior to discharge. Measures of depression and anxiety were also taken before and after hospital treatment. MSB prescores were positively correlated with presenting levels of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, declines in irrational thinking after a treatment program of cognitive-behavioral therapy were associated with declines in levels of depression. Initial levels of irrational thinking did not accurately predict length of hospital stay. The MSB scores for these patients at admission were considerably higher than for other populations previously reported. However, their discharge levels were comparable to normal levels reported by others. The results suggest a relationship between irrational thinking and depression for hospitalized psychiatric patients.Dr. Templeman is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Pendleton, Oregon.     

Sensitivity for Treatment Effects of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders

The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) is a relatively new self-report questionnaire that measures DSM-defined anxiety disorders symptoms in children. The present study examined the treatment sensitivity of the SCARED. Eleven anxiety-disordered children aged 10 to 13 years received cognitive-behavioral treatment, an intervention that is generally known to be effective. Children completed the SCARED on three occasions: (1) 3 months before treatment (i.e., baseline), (2) at pretreatment, and (3) at posttreatment. Before and after treatment, scores on traditional childhood anxiety measures (i.e., State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Fear Survey Schedule for Children) were also obtained. Results showed that children's SCARED scores remained relatively stable from baseline to pretreatment. However, from pre- to post-treatment, significant decreases were evident for the SCARED and for all traditional measures. These results suggest that the SCARED reliably taps treatment effects and, thus, provide further support for its utility as a self-report index of childhood anxiety in clinical and research settings.     

The revised version of the screen for child anxiety related emotional disorders (scared-r): Further evidence for its reliability and validity

Abstract The revised version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-R) is a self-report questionnaire that intends to measure symptoms of childhood anxiety disorders as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The current article presents three studies which examined in more detail the reliability and validity of the SCARED-R. Study 1 (N=101) demonstrated that the SCARED-R possesses satisfactory test-retest stability. Study 2 (N=71) shows that the child-parent agreement of the SCARED-R is rather low. Study 3 (N=88) provides support for the concurrent validity of the SCARED-R. More specifically, SCARED-R scores were correlated in a meaningful way with scores on the Children's Anxiety Scale, a questionnaire that also measures DSM-defined childhood anxiety symptoms.     

Differences in irrational beliefs of pregnant and never pregnant adolescents

Twenty-five pregnant and/or parenting adolescents were compared with sixteen nonpregnant adolescents on two irrationality measures: The Child and Adolescent Scale of Irrationality and the Adolescent Pregnancy Beliefs Questionnaire. Findings suggest that pregnant adolescents subscribe to a greater number of general irrational beliefs; to a greater number of irrational beliefs specific to sex, dating and birth control; to a greater number of beliefs consistent with promoting pregnancy; and to fewer beliefs that might deter pregnancy when compared to never pregnant adolescents.Karen Westphal holds a Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of South Carolina. She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio.Susan Wagner worked with Dr. Westphal on this research while she was a graduate student at Cleveland State University. She is presently employed in the Mood Disorders Research Project at University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio.     

Factorial structure of the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale in a large sample of college students: rejoinder

Recently a study by Lester of American college students found a different factor structure for the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale than studies with students from Arab countries. Thus, a large sample of college students (N=3064) was recruited from 10 Arab countries to examine the replicability of the factors previously extracted from the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale. Three factors, identified in the present sample, were compatible with those in the prior larger sample (N=9031). These were labeled Cognitive/Affective Anxiety, Subjective Anxiety or Nervousness, and Somatic Anxiety. The factorial pattern of the scale has been verified by both large samples.     

Social anxiety and premorbid personality disorders in paranoid schizophrenic patients treated with clozapine

The concept of anxiety as a distinct comorbid disorder in schizophrenia has recently been rediscovered after having been neglected for a long period of time due to both theoretical and clinical approaches adopted from the appearance of the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1950. This rediscovery was accentuated by the fact that the concept of comorbidity in various psychiatric disorders has recently won widespread favor within the scientific community, and that the use of atypical neuroleptic medication to treat patients with schizophrenia has been reported to lead to the emergence of anxiety symptoms. Of the atypical neuroleptic medications used to treat schizophrenia, clozapine has most frequently been reported to induce anxiety symptoms. In this paper, 12 cases of patients with paranoid schizophrenia who developed social phobia during clozapine treatment are reported, and their response to fluoxetine augmentation is assessed. Premorbid personality disorders were also investigated; patients were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R-Patient Version and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (DSM-III-R=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition Revised; DSM-IV=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition). In addition, the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Frankfurt Beschwerde Fragebogen (Frankfurt Questionnaire of Complaints), and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale were used to rate clinical symptomatology. All patients were reevaluated after 12 weeks of cotreatment with clozapine and fluoxetine. In 8 (66.6%) of the 12 cases, symptoms responded (>/=35% LSAS score reduction) to an adjunctive regimen of fluoxetine. Furthermore, in 7 (58.3%) of the 12 cases, an anxious personality disorder (avoidant=33.3%; dependent=25%) was identified, but no significant differences in the prevalence of comorbid personality disorders emerged in comparison with a group of 16 patients with paranoid schizophrenia treated with clozapine who did not show symptoms of social phobia. The clinical relevance of the assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders is discussed in light of a clinical therapeutic approach that overcomes the implicit hierarchy of classification. Considering that the onset of anxiety-spectrum disorders (such as social phobia) can occur during the remission of psychotic symptoms in clozapine-treated patients with schizophrenia, a comprehensive approach to pharmacological therapy for patients with schizophrenia (or, at least for those treated with clozapine) should be adopted.     

Threat perception bias in nonreferred, socially anxious children

Investigated whether socially anxious children display a threat perception bias. A sample of 252 primary school children ages 8 to 13 years were exposed to ambiguous stories of social situations and instructed to find out as quickly as possible whether a story was scary. Furthermore, children were invited to tell how each story would end and to judge how they would feel when actually confronted with that situation. The main results can be summarized as follows. First, socially anxious children displayed lower thresholds for threat perception than control children. In other words, compared with control children, socially anxious children needed to hear fewer sentences of a story before deciding it was scary. Furthermore, socially anxious children more frequently perceived threat while listening to the stories than did control children. Finally, socially anxious children more often interpreted the stories as threatening and displayed higher levels of negative feelings and cognitions in relation to these stories compared with control children. These findings fit nicely in current information-processing theories of childhood anxiety. An additional aim of this study was to investigate the convergent validity of the social phobia scales of 2 recently developed self-report questionnaires for measuring anxiety disorder symptoms in children: the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (Spence, 1998) and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (Birmaher et al., 1997). Results indicated that the social phobia scale of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale and the extended social phobia scale of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders correlated substantially with a specific measure of social anxiety, the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised.     

The relationships among the general attitude and belief scale,other dysfunctional cognition measures,and depressive or bulimic tendencies

This study assessed the relationships between the General Attitude and Belief Scale (GABS) and measures of 1) irrational beliefs derived from Ellis' older and newer theorizing, 2) reasoning errors based on Beck's theory, and 3) affective and behavioral disorder, specifically depression and bulimia. Female undergraduates (n=160) completed the GABS, Irrational Beliefs Scale, Irrational Beliefs Test, Rational Behaviors Inventory, Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, Cognitive Error Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory, Center for Epidemiologic Studies — Depression Scale, and Bulimia Test. Results supported the internal consistency and construct validity of the GABS; progressively higher correlations were obtained with measures more similar to the GABS theoretically.Dr. Eleanor H. Wertheim is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Zeffie Poulakis is associated with the Department of Psychology at La Trobe University where she completed her honours degree, B.B.Sc. (Hons).The authors thank Christine Brown for helping to recruit subjects and administer measures.     

Belief in a Just World and Attitudes Toward Immigrants and Foreign Workers: A Cultural Comparison Between Hawaii and Germany

University students in Hawaii ( N = 171) and in Germany ( N = 61) completed the 6-item Belief in a Just World Scale (BJWS; Dalbert, Montada, & Schmitt, 1987), an instrument developed in Germany to measure general just world belief. Results indicated that the BJWS is equally well suited to measure just world belief in an American sample. Subjects also completed a short instrument to assess justice judgments about the situation of a disadvantaged group (in Hawaii: Pacific Island immigrants; in Germany: foreign workers). For both samples, the disadvantaged group's situation was judged as more just by subjects with a greater belief in a just world and by those who were more socially similar to the disadvantaged group. Compared to students in Germany, those from Hawaii held stronger beliefs in a just world. Results were discussed in terms of generality and cultural specifity of the just world belief.     

Self-report of basic symptoms among psychotic and nonpsychotic subjects

Basic symptoms, as defined and described by the Bonn Scale, were assessed by means of a new self-report inventory, the Rome Basic Disorders Scale. On all the subscales, psychiatric outpatients (n = 105; most frequent diagnoses: Schizophrenia, Anxiety Disorders, and Mood Disorders) scored significantly higher (p < .001) than nonclinical controls (n = 105). Psychiatric patients with at least one diagnosis on the psychotic sets of Foulds' hierarchical inventory (n = 45), compared with the rest of the psychiatric sample (n = 60), had significantly higher scores on nearly all subscales. Two groups of inpatients with Schizophrenia (n = 20) and Mood Disorders (n = 20) were tested on Day 2 and 9 of hospitalization in an emergency ward. Schizophrenic patients had significantly higher scores on most of the subscales, but only on Day 9; on Day 2 depressed and manic patients scored significantly higher on four subscales. Until now basic symptoms had not been studied during the intrapsychotic phase, mainly because of their transformation into first-rank symptoms; present findings suggest that basic symptoms are active also at the height of the psychotic breakdown and that they are more responsive to treatment in Depression and Mania than in Schizophrenia.     

Predicting anxious response to a social challenge: the predictive utility of the social interaction anxiety scale and the social phobia scale in a college population

Trait anxiety is believed to be a hierarchical construct composed of several lower-order factors (Adv. Behav. Res. Therapy, 15 (1993) 147; J. Anxiety Disorders, 9 (1995) 163). Assessment devices such as the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Phobia Scale (SIAS and SPS; Behav. Res. Therapy, 36 (4) (1998) 455), and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Behav. Res. Therapy, 24 (1986) 1) are good measures of the presumably separate lower-order factors. This study compared the effectiveness of the SIAS, SPS, ASI-physical scale and STAI-T (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press (1970)) as predictors of anxious response to a social challenge (asking an aloof confederate out on a date). Consistent with the hierarchical model of anxiety, the measures of trait anxiety were moderately correlated with each other and each was a significant predictor of anxious response. The specific measures of trait social anxiety were slightly better predictors of anxious response to the social challenge than was either the ASI-physical scale or the STAI-T. The results provide evidence of the predictive validity of these social trait measures and some support for their specificity in the prediction of anxious response to a social challenge.     

Manic-depressiveness and its correlates

Manic-depressiveness is the name here given to a hypothesized personality continuum that has, at one extreme, manic-depressive psychosis. A Manic-Depressiveness Scale is described, which comprises three scales, Manic Experience, Depressive Experience, and the sum of the two, since they are correlated. 250 undergraduate psychology students at the University of Adelaide and at Goldsmiths' College, London, were administered the Manic-Depressiveness Scale along with 12 measures including the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Revised). Scores on the total Manic-Depressiveness Scale tended (in order of size of association) to be correlated with Schizotypal Personality (and three subscales), Neuroticism, Magical Ideation, Mystical Experience, Belief in the Paranormal, absence of Social Na?veté, and Psychoticism. Manic Experience showed a pattern of relationships with the above variables broadly similar to that of Depressive Experience but included Creative Personality, while Depressive Experience included introversion. The relationship between manic-depressiveness and schizotypy is discussed.     

Wealth is associated with lower anxiety in a sample of Lebanese students

A sample of 160 Lebanese students in the American University at Beirut (a relatively wealthy sample) had a significantly lower mean score on the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale than a sample of 639 Lebanese students in the Lebanese University (a less wealthy sample). Sex differences in anxiety scores were not significant in the first sample, but were in the second.     

Cognitive beliefs about male sexuality: The impact of gender roles and counselor perspectives

Two studies are presented which examine stereotypie beliefs about males and their sexuality through the use of the Stereotypes About Male Sexuality Scale (SAMSS). In the first study, the relationship between the SAMSS and two gender role measures were examined. The results revealed that the restrictive emotionality aspect of the masculine role was strongly associated with stereotypic beliefs about male sexuality. Other gender role preferences and behaviors were also found to be positively associated with conventional performance approaches to male sexuality. In the second investigation, counseling trainees were asked to describe how mentally healthy adult men and women would respond to the Stereotypes About Male Sexuality Scale. The responses of both male and female intraining counselors indicated that they expected mentally healthy males: (a) to reject inhibited, control, and constant readiness approaches to the expression of male sexuality and (b) to express greater disagreement toward defining male sexuality exclusively in terms of sexual intercourse and toward viewing males as inherently knowledgeable about sex. These results thus provide evidence for the importance of the SAMSS and a cognitive approach to the study of male sexuality.William E. Snell, Jr., Ph.D. is an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts at Southeast Missouri State University. Sharyn S. Belk is a Ph.D. candidate in social-personality psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Raymond C. Hawkins II, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist at the Austin Regional Clinic in Austin, Texas.Portions of these data were presented at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, and at the XXIII International Congress of Psychology, Acapulco, Mexico.