Agoraphobia with and without current panic attacks

MMPI and SCL-90-R profiles of agoraphobics with and without current panic attacks are presented. Agoraphobics with current panic attacks were more elevated on Psychopathic Deviate (4), Psychasthenia (7), and Social Introversion (0) scales of the MMPI. On the SCL-90-R agoraphobics with current panic attacks had higher scores on Interpersonal Sensitivity, Anxiety, Phobic Anxiety, and Total/90.     

Validity of the social avoidance and distress and fear of negative evaluation scales

The Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SAD) and the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE), two commonly accepted measures of social anxiety, were administered to a large group of patients diagnosed as having Agoraphobia with Panic Attacks, Agoraphobia without Panic Attacks, Social Phobia, Simple Phobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. On the SAD and FNE, social phobies did not differ significantly from the other major anxiety disorders, with the exception of simple phobies. Performance on the SAD and FNE was significantly correlated with measures of anxiety, depression and general emotional distress. The lack of discriminative validity of the SAD and FNE is discussed.     

Agoraphobia in women: factor analysis of symptoms and personality correlates of factor scores in a clinical population

One hundred and sixty female patients with a DSM-III diagnosis of agoraphobia completed a measure of fears and general symptoms (FSS) and personality (HDHQ). Many patients had significant psychological symptoms in addition to their agoraphobia. FSS scores were factor analysed. First-order analysis revealed agoraphobia as a heterogeneous clinical entity occurring independently of a large General Symptoms factor which included panic attacks. Second-order analysis revealed a General Symptoms/Social Phobia factor and a well-defined but heterogeneous Agoraphobia factor comprising the lower-order factors Claustrophobia, Travel Fears and Agoraphobia (fear of crowded public places). Correlations of first- and second-order factors with HDHQ scores showed that the Travel Fears factor was not associated with abnormal personality traits, whereas the Claustrophobia and Agoraphobia factors were. This suggested that travel fears should respond well to behaviour therapy per se, whereas additional treatment aimed at modifying abnormal personality traits may sometimes be indicated for claustrophobia and fear of crowded places. The heterogeneous nature of agoraphobia and the large size of the independent General Symptoms factor underlined the desirability of a multi-modal approach to treatment and research.     

Psychometric Properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale in an Adolescent Spanish-Speaking Sample

The relationship among several social anxiety measures and a semistructured interview in an adolescent Spanish-speaking sample is examined. Construct validity and test-retest reliability were tested. A principal axis factor analysis was also explored. Results revealed good construct validity and alpha coefficients for the assessment instruments such as the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A), the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNES) and the Social Avoidance Distress Scale (SADS). Among these, data strongly support the validity of the Social Phobia and Difference measures of the SPAI and Total SAS-A score as assessment measures in the adolescent population even in non-American cultures and languages. Furthermore, results appear to support the presence of a single higher-order dimension, social anxiety, as measured by the instruments used in this study.     

Does the social concerns component of the anxiety sensitivity index belong to the domain of anxiety sensitivity or the domain of negative evaluation sensitivity?

The present study utilized an exploratory factor-analytic approach (i.e. principal-components analysis; PCA) to investigate whether the Social Concerns component of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI [Peterson, R. A., & Reiss, S. (1992). Anxiety Sensitivity Index manual (2nd ed.). Worthington, OH: International Diagnostic Systems.]) is best conceptualized as belonging to the domain of anxiety sensitivity (AS) and/or the domain of negative evaluation sensitivity (NES). A sample of university students (N = 216) was administered measures of both NES (i.e. Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation scale; Leary, 1983) and AS (i.e. ASI). Participants' responses to the items comprising these measures were subjected to a PCA with oblique rotation. Factors representing the NES construct and the three lower-order AS constructs (i.e. AS Physical, Psychological and Social Concerns) were obtained. Subscales derived from these four factors were positively and significantly correlated with one another and loaded on a single higher-order factor labeled Threat Sensitivity. Thus, the present findings suggest that the AS Social Concerns factor is distinct from NES and the other lower-order components of AS. However, correlational analyses and higher-order PCA indicated that the AS Social Concerns factor taps a blend of AS and NES as well as something unique and distinct from both global AS and NES.     

The relationship of television viewing time to scores on the Fear Survey Schedule

The responses of 460 undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology to the Wolpe-Lang Fear Survey Schedule (FSS) were examined to determine the effect of television viewing time. Contrary to predictions of cultivation theory, heavy viewers (more than four hours daily) did not obtain significantly higher total fear scores than light (less than two hours) or medium viewers (two to four hours). Similarly, the scores on five FSS Subscales—Social Phobia, Agoraphobia, Fear of Bodily Injury, Illness and Death, Fear of Sexual and Aggressive Scenes, and Fear of Harmless Animals—did not reveal any differences related to viewing time. However, the total fear score of female respondents increased with viewing time and was significantly higher than male scores; significant sex differences were found in four subscales as well. Implications for future use of the FSS and cultivation theory were discussed.     

The social phobia and anxiety inventory: psychometric properties in a Spanish sample

This study is a validation of the Spanish version of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory using a nonclinical sample (198 participants) and a clinical sample (72 participants with social phobia). The factor structure and concurrent validity with Fear of Negative Evaluation and Social Avoidance and Distress scales were analyzed. The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory demonstrated good concurrent validity, showing statistically significant relationships with Fear of Negative Evaluation and Social Avoidance and Distress. Results confirmed the rationale for the division of the SPAI into two subscales. Results also demonstrated the utility of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for differentiating between a nonclinical sample and participants with a social phobia, and its adequate reliability.     

Adaptation of panic-related psychopathology measures to Russian

The study reports results of adaptation of panic-related psychopathology measures to Russian, including the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), the Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire (ACQ), and the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia (MIA). Psychometric properties (e.g., reliability, factor structure, endorsement) and external validity of the adaptations were evaluated in a representative sample of Moscow residents (N = 390) and Ukrainian undergraduates (N = 492). The adapted ASI was generally equivalent to the original English-language version. The ACQ showed structural equivalency but did not exhibit expected specificity to panic. Finally, the MIA displayed notable structural discrepancies but had external validity comparable to the original.     

Utility of the SCL-90-R with depressed and conduct-disordered adolescent inpatients.

We assessed the diagnostic utility of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) in a sample of adolescent inpatients. In Part 1 (n = 79), convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated for SCL-90-R scales measuring depression and paranoid ideation. Canonical correlation showed that SCL-90-R scales tapped two dimensions of adolescent psychopathology, a primary dimension of dysphoria and a secondary dimension of anger and mistrust. In Part 2 (n = 50), adolescents diagnosed as having major depression showed significant elevations on scales measuring depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive features. Although several scales had high diagnostic specificity for major depression and conduct disorder, sensitivity was low.     

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.     

Utility of the SCL-90-R With Depressed and Conduct-Disordered Adolescent Inpatients

We assessed the ciiagnosric utility of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-9O-R) in a sample of adolescent inpatients. In Part 1 (n = 73), convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated for SCL-90-R scales measuring depression and paranoid ideation, Canonical correlation showed that SCL-90-R scales tapped two dimensions of adolescent psychopathology, a primary dimension of dysphoria and a secondary dimension of anger and mistrust. In Part 2 (n = 50), adolescents diagnosed as having major depression showed significant elevations on scales measuring depression, anxiety, an obsessive-compulsive features. Although several scales had high diagnostic specificity for major depression and conduct dsorder, sensitivity was low.     

An Examination of the Factor Structure and Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the SCL-90R in an Outpatient Clinic Population

This study investigated the factor structure of the SCL-90R using an outpatient psychology clinic population. Six relatively homogeneous and stable factors were identified: Depression, Somatization, Anger-Hostility, Paranoid-Psychoticism, Phobic Anxiety, and Obsessive-Compulsive. However, a principal component analysis revealed that the first factor accounted for a large percentage of the variance, suggesting that this instrument measures a general dimension of psychopathology. In addition, significant correlations between the SCL-90R symptom dimensions and both the BDI and several MMPI scales were found. The results of the study lead to questions regarding the utility of the SCL-90R.     

An examination of the factor structure and convergent and discriminant validity of the SCL-90R in an outpatient clinic population

This study investigated the factor structure of the SCL-90R using an outpatient psychology clinic population. Six relatively homogeneous and stable factors were identified: Depression, Somatization, Anger-Hostility, Paranoid-Psychoticism, Phobic Anxiety, and Obsessive-Compulsive. However, a principal component analysis revealed that the first factor accounted for a large percentage of the variance, suggesting that this instrument measures a general dimension of psychopathology. In addition, significant correlations between the SCL-90R symptom dimensions and both the BDI and several MMPI scales were found. The results of the study lead to questions regarding the utility of the SCL-90R.     

An Assessment of Social Phobia and Social Anxiety and their Relation to Self-Consciousness

Abstract

The translation of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) into Icelandic was submitted to a psychometric assessment. Two hundred sixty-three university students participated in the study. In addition to the SPAI they filled in Fenigstein, Scheier and Buss' (1975) Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) as well as Spielberger's (1983) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). A principal components analysis of the SPAI yielded as expected an agoraphobia and a social phobia factor. As expected the Social Anxiety Scale of the SCS correlated much more strongly with the Social Phobia than the Agoraphobia Scale. The correlation of the Social Phobia Scale with the Social Anxiety Scale was substantially higher than its correlation with any other anxiety measure. The relationships between the Social Phobia Scale and Public versus Private Self-Consciousness were moreover in accordance with theoretical expectations as well as prior research. Generally the discriminant and convergent validity of the Icelandic translation of the Social Phobia Scale as a measure of social anxiety is supported.     

Factor structure of the mobility inventory for agoraphobia: A validational study with australian samples of agoraphobic patients

This study examines the factor structure of the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia and attempts to validate the inventory, using an Australian sample of agoraphobic patients, by comparison with other scales. One hundred twentyfour panic disorder with agoraphobia patients were studied. Factor analysis showed that a two-factor solution was the most suitable both when subjects were accompanied (accompanied condition) and when alone (alone condition). Factor I represented public, crowded, or social situations including department stores, supermarkets, restaurants, theaters, and panics and social gatherings. Factor II reflected enclosed or riding situations such as elevators, parking garages, enclosed spaces, and riding in subways or airplanes. These two factors accounted for 46.6% and 44.3% of the variance on the accompanied condition and the alone condition, respectively. The Mobility Inventory was significantly correlated with the Agoraphobia factor of the Fear Questionnaire and the Social Avoidance and Distress scale. These results indicated that the Mobility Inventory is a valid instrument to measure agoraphobic behavior.     

Hope of success and fear of failure components of Mehrabian's scales of resultant achievement motivation

This report is concerned with the factor structure and psychometric properties of the nonprojective Male and Female scales of Resultant Achievement Motivation (RAM) developed by Mehrabian (Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1968, 28, 493–503). The 26-item self-report scales along with Mandler and Sarason's (Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1952, 47, 166–173) Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ) were administered to 237 males and 225 females in Experiment 1. Unrestricted maximum likelihood factor analyses of the RAM scales revealed four primary factors for each version. Since the first two factors from both analyses resembled measures of Hope of Success and Fear of Failure, two strategies for improving the scales were adopted, both of which eliminated the items loading on factors III and IV. One strategy involved adding the indexes of Hope of Success and Fear of Failure, while the other involved finding their difference. Construct validity coefficients were computed for the 26-item full scales, and the RAM measures formed using the above strategies with student grade point average and TAQ scores as the criterion variables. In Experiment 2, the appropriate RAM scale and the TAQ were administered to 30 males and 38 females. Construct validity coefficients were computed in this cross validation sample with the three RAM measures as predictors and with TAQ scores and student achievement in a course in Social/Personality Psychology as the criterion variables. The three RAM measures were used to predict the performance of 16 males who worked at a common laboratory task (anagrams) in Experiment 3. The results of all three experiments indicate the Hope of Success minus Fear of Failure measure to be the best measure of RAM from a theoretical, psychometric, and pragmatic point of view.     

The Italian version of the Social Comparison Rating Scale and the Submissive Behaviour Scale: Reliability and validity in a sample of adolescents

Social rank theory argues that social comparison and submissive behaviour are mechanisms by which humans and animals form themselves into social ranks. Design: this study assesses the psychometric properties of Italian versions of the Social Comparison Rating Scale—SCRS and Submissive Behaviour Scale—SBS in a sample of adolescents. The samples consisted of a clinical group (N = 200) and a non-clinical group (N = 1991). The non-clinical group allowed us to obtain two random samples used for the EFA and the CFA; moreover, we also extracted a Retest sample consisting of 219 subjects. Internal consistency was satisfactory and the factor structures were similar to the original version of the measures. The SBS and SCRS were significantly correlated with all the symptom profiles on the SCL-90-R, in both populations. Clinical populations had higher correlations with these measures. Statistical analyses showed a good fit to the data, replicating the constructs of the original scales. These results confirm that submissive behaviour and social comparison are associated with mental health problems.     

Culture and validity of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised and Profile of Mood States in a New Zealand student sample

New Zealand students' performance was examined on assessments of psychopathology and mood as compared to normative data from the United States. New Zealand university students (N = 137) completed the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and Profile of Mood States (POMS). Mean performances differed significantly from normative data for each SCL-90-R scale. No significant differences were found for the POMS scales. Within the sample, European (n = 82), Maori (n = 24), and Asian (n = 24) participants differed significantly on SCL-90-R obsessive-compulsive, phobic anxiety, and anxiety scales and POMS scales of tension and confusion. Implications for assessment of New Zealand samples are discussed.     

Personality,mental distress,and risk perception in subjects with multiple chemical sensitivity and toxic encephalopathy

Personality, mental distress, and risk perception were assessed in (a) cases of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS; n = 17), (b) chemically intolerant toxic encephalopathy cases (TE), type 2A (n = 31) and 2B (n = 26), and (c) healthy referents (n = 200). MCS cases showed elevated mental distress scores on the Depression, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Global Severity Index, and Somatization scales in the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). In the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) the MCS group showed an elevation only on the Psychasthenia scale. Both TE groups showed elevations across the KSP anxiety scales Muscular Tension, Psychasthenia, and Somatic Anxiety. TE type 2B subjects also showed elevations on the Irritability and Indirect Aggression scales. However, neither MCS nor TE groups showed deviating personality characteristics in the Meta Contrast Technique test. Similarly, none of the groups deviated from referents in a risk perception inventory.     

The Social Phobia and Social Interaction Anxiety Scales: Evaluation of Psychometric Properties

The present investigations examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of two new self-report measures of social phobia, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS). A confirmatory factor analysis in Study I provided support for the fit of a two-factor model of the SIAS and SPS. Internal consistency estimates were high for the original two scales with a sample of 200 undergraduates. Also, using an item parceling procedure, the obtained internal consistency reliability indices for each parcel were acceptable. Results of the CFA in Study II provided support for the factorial stability of the model identified in Study I. Furthermore, multisample analyses showed invariant patterns for factor loadings and factor correlations across 138 men and 272 women. Gender differences were not observed in the mean SIAS and SPS scale and item scores. Both scales correlated negatively and significantly with measures of social desirability. Concurrent validity was established for the scales. The SPS was less specific than the SIAS to symptoms of social phobia.