Program evaluation in community psychology

American Journal of Community Psychology -     

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 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.     

Walter Bradford Cannon: Pioneer of stress research

Walter Bradford Cannon, M.D., made a significant contribution to psychology and medicine with the discovery of the stress response around 1915, setting the cornerstone for psychosomatic medicine. This brief, introductory article etches out the nature of his contribution and sets the stage for Dr. Bradford Cannon to reflect on his father's important professional contributions and personal life in the following article.     

Construction and validation of a japanese adaptation of the test anxiety inventory

This study describes the construction and validation of a Japanese adaptation of Spielberger's (1980) Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and presents evidence of the reliability and validity of this new instrument. The items for the Japanese TAI (TAI-J) were selected on the basis of content validity and itemremainder correlations, which were .40 or higher for both sexes. Alpha reliability coefficients for the TAI-J Total scores were .90 or higher for both high school and college students; test-retest stability over a three-week interval was .89. Mean TAI-J Total scores for Japanese high school females were significantly higher than those of Japanese college students, whose scores were slightly lower than those reported for American undergraduates. TAI-J Total scores correlated .72 with a Japanese trait anxiety measure. Significant negative correlations were found between TAI-J Total scores and measures of academic achievement. Implications of these results for the measurement of test anxiety in Japanese students are discussed from a cross-cultural perspective.