Is the state-trait anxiety inventory multidimensional?

The factor structure of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was investigated to determine whether the STAI State and Trait Anxiety scales were multidimensional. The STAI (Form Y) was administered to a heterogeneous sample of Air Force recruits (N = 1728); the scores for all 40 STAI items were factor-analyzed together, using the principal axis method and varimax rotation. Two- and four-factor solutions were found to be equally good in simple structure and psychological meaningfulness. Clearly defined state and trait anxiety factors were found in the more parsimonious two-factor solution. In the four-factor solution, the factors were: State Anxiety-Present, State Anxiety-Absent, Trait Anxiety-Present and Trait Anxiety-Absent. Using Cattell's (1966) confactor method, these factors were found to be congruent with similar factors previously identified for high school students by Spielberger et al. (1980). The anxiety-present and anxiety-absent factors were interpreted as reflecting either ‘item method’ variance or ‘item-intensity specificity’. There was no evidence in the present study that the STAI scales were multidimensional in terms of item content.     

Measurement of anxious traits: a contemporary review and synthesis

Trait anxiety is a characteristic predisposition to appraise stimuli as threatening and respond with anxiety. Trait anxiety is proposed to serve as a vulnerability factor for greater frequency and intensity of anxiety experiences as well as the development of anxious pathology. Cognitive, behavioral, and physiological components of trait anxiety have been described. Common self-report measures of trait anxiety are reviewed with an emphasis on: components assessed, factor structure, internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity. Measures were selected if instructions ask individuals to endorse items based on their characteristic, rather than a time sensitive, response. Selection criteria resulted in a focus on the following measures: the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Anxiety Inventory-Trait (BAIT), Cognitive Somatic Anxiety Questionnaire (CSAQ), Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales-Trait (EMAS-T), Four Systems Anxiety Questionnaire (FSAQ), State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA), and the Three Systems Anxiety Questionnaire (TSAQ). While the STAI has the advantage of normative data and frequent use in prior research, newer measures, such as the BAIT and the STICSA, demonstrate greater discriminant validity. The strengths and weaknesses of each of the reviewed measures are highlighted. Recommendations for measure selection and future research are provided.     

Psychometric revision and differential item functioning in the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

One of the psychological problems with highest prevalence is anxiety. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory is one of the instruments to measure it. This questionnaire assesses Trait Anxiety (understood as a personality factor that predisposes one to suffer from anxiety) and State Anxiety (refers to environment factors that protect from or generate anxiety). The questionnaire was adapted in Spain in 1982. Therefore, the goal of the study is to review the current psychometric properties of the STAI. A total of 1036 adults took part in the study. Cronbach's alpha reliability was .90 for Trait and .94 for State Anxiety. Factor analysis showed similar results compared with the original data. Moreover, differential item functioning (DIF) was carried out to explore sex bias. Only one of the 40 items showed DIF problems. Lastly, a t-Test was run, comparing the original and current values; whereas Trait Anxiety varied in 1 point, State Anxiety had differences of up to 6 points. In general, this result shows that the STAI has maintained adequate psychometric properties and has also been sensitive to increased environmental stimuli that produce stress.     

Rorschach correlates of state and trait anxiety in college students

This study was done to determine whether Elizur's anxiety scoring (AL) for Rorschach content was correlated to scores on Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The definition of anxiety presented by Elizur implies that his technique measures anxiety as a long-term, relatively stable personality characteristic rather than a transitory emotional state, but no research has shown whether AL was correlated with state and/or trait anxiety as defined and measured by Spielberger. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered in small groups to 40 college students with a repeated measure of STAI State-anxiety and the Rorschach given individually following a delay of at least five days. Analysis indicated that the STAI Trait-anxiety measure correlated significantly with AL. Test-retest correlations for STAI State-anxiety measures and STAI State- and Trait-anxiety measures obtained in the same testing session were significant. State-anxiety scores obtained just prior to Rorschach testing were related to STAI Trait-anxiety scores and initial STAI State-anxiety scores correlated with AL.     

Differences in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores for ethnically diverse adolescents in Hawaii

This study examined the association between anxiety and 5 predictor variables: ethnicity (Caucasian, Native Hawaiian/part Hawaiian, Japanese, other), gender, grade level (9-12th), main wage earners' educational level, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; C. D. Spielberger, R. L. Gorsuch, & R. E. Lushene, 1970) factors for a diverse group of students. Hawaiian students were found to have significantly higher levels of anxiety than Japanese students; however, ethnicity was not a significant predictor when gender, grade level, and main wage earners' education were statistically held constant. An interaction between ethnicity and STAI factor scores indicated an atypical pattern for Caucasians. Female students scored significantly higher than male students, and main wage earners' education predicted amount of anxiety. In general, these 2 associations remained significant when ethnicity and grade level were held constant. An interaction between gender and STAI factor scores indicated that the difference between female and male students was relatively larger for positively (as opposed to negatively) worded State items and for negatively (as opposed to positively) worded Trait items. Overall, the findings suggested that apparent ethnic differences in anxiety levels may be due to causal variables related to other sociodemographic variables. Factor scores in the form of positively versus negatively worded items should be considered an important variable; using only a global STAI composite as a measure of anxiety will mask the differential effects of the STAI factor scores. Further research is needed to determine the generalizability of these findings to other groups and to provide knowledge on direct causal variables that may account for a greater percentage of variance.     

Measurement of state and trait anxiety in elderly mental health clients

Anxiety in elderly persons is frequently discussed but rarely measured. Difficulties in measuring state and trait anxiety with mental health clients aged 55 and older using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) led the authors to validate the use of the simpler, children's form of their scale. Four types of validity data were found: (1) the childrens' form was highly correlated with the adult form, (2) both scales were significantly correlated with objective ratings of anxiety made by staff, (3) the STAI measures were not correlated with behavioral ratings other than anxiety (discriminant validity), (4) the residential clients were significantly higher in A-trait than the day clients. The nonresidential clients were not more anxious than college students. Discussion emphasizes the necessity of distinguishing between and measuring both state and trait anxiety in order to understand anxiety in the elderly.     

Reliability and factorial structure of the Chinese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

The Chinese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was administered to 2150 Chinese secondary-school students. Reliability data revealed that the A-State and A-Trait scales had a high internal consistency, and high item-total correlations were found for most of the items under each scale. Factor analytic data showed that while two factors were abstracted from the A-Trait scale (Anxiety Present and Anxiety Absent), two (Anxiety Present and Anxiety Absent) or three (Anxiety Present, Calmness, and Happiness) factors were abstracted from the A-State scale. By randomly splitting the total sample into two subsamples, factors extracted from the first two factor-solutions could be reproduced reliably and high coefficients of congruence were found. These findings generally suggest that the Chinese A-State and A-Trait scales possess acceptable psychometric properties and the factor analytic data tend to support Spielberger's conception of the multidimensional nature of the A-State and A-Trait scales.This work was supported by UPGC Grant CPAS/714.     

State–trait anxiety and existential fear: an empirical analysis

The Fear Checklist consists of 18 items (e.g. intimacy, loss of control, failure) a respondent checks to signify areas that have been or currently are personal sources of concern and/or apprehension. Total scores on the Fear Checklist, along with scores on each of its three subscales (Social, Control, Identity), were correlated with the state (A-State) and trait (A-Trait) anxiety scales of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Both the A-State and A-Trait scales demonstrated significant association with the total Fear Checklist score (r_stat =0.48, r_trait=0.50) and each of its three subscales in a group of 135 male federal prisoners. Despite substantial overlap between the A-State and A-Trait scales (r=0.76), each achieved significant partial correlations with the total Fear Checklist score when the other scale was controlled (i.e. the A-Trait score was controlled in the state anxiety–fear relationship and the A-State score was controlled in the trait anxiety–fear relationship). These results lend preliminary support to the notion that existential fear, as measured by the Fear Checklist, is sensitive to both dispositionally (A-Trait) and situationally (A-State) based anxiety, although the majority of variance shared by the STAI and Fear Checklist was common to both STAI scales.     

Psychometric properties of the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA): comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

The State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA; M. J. Ree, C. MacLeod, D. French, & V. Locke, 2000) was designed to assess cognitive and somatic symptoms of anxiety as they pertain to one's mood in the moment (state) and in general (trait). This study extended the previous psychometric findings to a clinical sample and validated the STICSA against a well-published measure of anxiety, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; C. D. Spielberger, 1983). Patients (N=567) at an anxiety disorders clinic were administered a battery of questionnaires. The results of confirmatory factor analyses (Bentler-Bonnett nonnormed fit index, comparative fit index, and Bollen fit index>.90; root-mean-square error of approximation<.05); convergent and discriminant validity analyses; and group comparisons supported the reliability and validity of the STICSA as a measure of state and trait cognitive and somatic anxiety. In addition, compared with the STAI (anxiety: rs/=.64), the STICSA was more strongly correlated with another measure of anxiety (rs>/=.67) and was less strongly correlated with a measure of depression (rs相似文献   

Holtzman Inkblot Anxiety and Shading Scores Related to State and Trait Anxiety

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the group Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) were administered to 52 college Ss in order to determine the relationship between HIT Anxiety (Ax) and Shading (Sh) scores and A-Trait and A-State scores. Neither Ax or Sh correlated with A-Trait. Ax correlated with A-State, both before and during the administration of the inkblots. To determine the influence of productivity or inhibition, inkblot protocol word counts were obtained. Word count failed to correlate with the sc ores on the STAI, but did correlate significantly with the HIT scores.     

Threat of Shock,State Anxiety,and the Holtzman Inkblot Technique

To study the relationship of selected Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) scores and anxiety, Ss were matched on the basis of A-Trait scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The HIT was administered to Ss under neutral and threat of shock conditions. State anxiety was monitored by means of the A-State scale of the STAI. None of the HIT variables reflected changes in A-State due to the experimental conditions. HIT anxiety correlated significantly with STAI A-Trait. Results are discussed in terms of Trait-State Anxiety theory and previous research.     

Self-reports of depression and state-trait anxiety: evidence for differential assessment.

Several researchers have found anxiety and depression to be indistinguishable in nonclinical samples and have suggested that both constructs may be components of a general psychological distress process. Another possibility is that overlap is due to the psychometric limitations of scales used. A series of exploratory factor analyses were conducted in a nonclinical sample (N = 605) using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, 1978), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, 1983), and the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EMAS; Endler, Edwards, & Vitelli, 1991). Both state and trait anxiety and depression could be differentiated with the BDI and the EMAS but not with the STAI. Some theoretical models of negative affectivity or general psychopathology may be premature.     

The factor structure of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: an alternative view

Past studies of the factor structure of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983) have arrived at various solutions. However, a relatively strong consensus supports a four-factor (State Anxiety Present, State Anxiety Absent, Trait Anxiety Present, and Trait Anxiety Absent) structure of the scale resulting from the combination of item polarity dimensions and the original two factors (State and Trait Anxiety). In this article, we assessed the adequacy of an alternative factor model of STAI data, the two-construct, two-method model, in three large samples using confirmatory factor analysis. The results revealed a statistical advantage of the two-construct, two-method model over the one-factor model, the two-construct factor model, and the four-factor model. We discuss possible interpretational advantages of the two-construct, two-method model of the STAI.     

An experimental analysis of chronic posttraumatic stress among adolescents

The Fear Survey Schedule (FSS), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Lebanese Fear Inventory (FLI, an endemic index of war fears) were administered to a sample of Lebanese junior high school students 27 days before the Israeli invasion of 1982. Six months after the disengagement of forces, the investigator located 16 subjects who had been in West Beirut throughout the siege and 46 subjects who had evacuated to safer environs. The inventories were readministered to the subjects according to a counterbalanced regimen and no significant differences were noted between the preinvasion scores of the evacuees and nonevacuees or between the postinvasion scores of the evacuees and nonevacuees. No significant differences were observed when the aggregate FSS and STAI estimates that were recorded before and after the invasion were compared. On the other hand, the aggregate LFI scores were significantly lower after the invasion. The results are discussed from within the social learning framework of fear acquisition.     

Characteristic Factor Structures of the Japanese Version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: Coexistence of Positive-Negative and State-Trait Factor Structures

Previous factor studies of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970) have reported certain typical factors that are state-trait (S-T) 2-factor solutions and positively-negatively (P-N) worded item 2-factor solutions in addition to 4-factor solutions (positively and negatively worded state factors, positively and negatively worded trait factors). We explored the possibility that these factor structures are included in a factor space. Responses to the Japanese version of the STAI in a sample of 848 male workers were factor analyzed. The first-order factors obtained from principal-component analysis were almost equal to the previous 4 factors, except for a minor factor, and their second-order factors were the P-N factors. However, the S-T factors were also obtained from the same first-order factors by the oblique Procrustes rotation. Moreover, coexistence of these two 2-factor structures was determined in the same factor space by the orthogonal Procrustes rotation.     

Development of a short form of the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI)

The Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) is widely used in research and practical settings and has particular application to the assessment and treatment of test anxiety in student populations. However, there are a number of instances in which a short version of the TAI would be more appropriate, especially when time constraints preclude the use of the full form. Similar short forms have been developed for other measures such as the State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; T. M. Marteau & H. Bekker, 1992). The authors of the present study aimed to develop a short form of the TAI. The TAI was completed by 333 undergraduate psychology students. Item-remainder correlations were used to compare short forms with varying numbers of items. Internal consistency and concurrent and construct validity were assessed in hypothetical and actual examination conditions. A 5-item short form produced optimal reliability and validity, and a balance of items from the Worry and Emotionality subscales of the TAI. Further research is needed to replicate these results, but the 5-item short form of the TAI shows promise, particularly for contexts in which time demands preclude the use of longer versions.     

The anxiolytic effect of aqua aerobics in elderly women

This study examined the anxiolytic (anxiety reducing) effects of exercise for elderly women engaging in a single bout of aqua aerobics. Volunteers (N=29) completed questionnaires immediately before and after participating in an aqua aerobics class. The average age of participants was 66.4 yr. A brief form of Spielberger's State Anxiety Inventory and a questionnaire on demographic items were administered prior to engagement in exercise, and the brief form of the State Anxiety Inventory was administered again immediately after the exercise session. There was a significant difference on a t test between participants' ratings of anxiety before exercise (M = 16.8) compared to after exercise (M= 13.9); participants' ratings of state anxiety were somewhat lower after exercising. Weaknesses of the present study and suggestions for research are presented.     

Characteristics factor structures of the Japanese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: coexistence of positive-negative and state-trait factor structures

Previous factor studies of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970) have reported certain typical factors that are state-trait (S-T) 2-factor solutions and positively-negatively (P-N) worded item 2-factor solutions in addition to 4-factor solutions (positively and negatively worded state factors, positively and negatively worded trait factors). We explored the possibility that these factor structures are included in a factor space. Responses to the Japanese version of the STAI in a sample of 848 male workers were factor analyzed. The first-order factors obtained from principal-component analysis were almost equal to the previous 4 factors, except for a minor factor, and their second-order factors were the P-N factors. However, the S-T factors were also obtained from the same first-order factors by the oblique Procrustes rotation. Moreover, coexistence of these two 2-factor structures was determined in the same factor space by the orthogonal Procrustes rotation.     

Development of a Short Form of the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI)

The Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) is widely used in research and practical settings and has particular application to the assessment and treatment of test anxiety in student populations. However, there are a number of instances in which a short version of the TAI would be more appropriate, especially when time constraints preclude the use of the full form. Similar short forms have been developed for other measures such as the State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; T. M. Marteau & H. Bekker, 1992). The authors of the present study aimed to develop a short form of the TAI. The TAI was completed by 333 undergraduate psychology students. Item–remainder correlations were used to compare short forms with varying numbers of items. Internal consistency and concurrent and construct validity were assessed in hypothetical and actual examination conditions. A 5-item short form produced optimal reliability and validity, and a balance of items from the Worry and Emotionality subscales of the TAI. Further research is needed to replicate these results, but the 5-item short form of the TAI shows promise, particularly for contexts in which time demands preclude the use of longer versions.     

Why Women Take Fewer Risk Than Men Do: The Mediating Role of State Anxiety

Gender studies have showed that women take fewer risks than men do. Previous research has also provided evidence for a link between negative affect (anxiety and depressive mood) and risk-taking. Little is known about the relationships among these factors. We examined the role of state anxiety in the relationship between gender and risk-taking. Fully 149 undergraduate students filled out the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory–II (BDI) before playing the hot version of the Columbia Card Task (hot CCT), which is designed to measure emotionally based risk-taking behavior. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that gender and state anxiety were associated with risk-taking even when controlling for age, depressive mood, and trait anxiety. Moreover, results pointed out that gender is related to risk-taking through state anxiety. These results offer insights into gender research, as well as affective and decision science. Implications for future studies and applied interventions are discussed.