State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a psychological inventory based on a 4-point Likert scale and consists of 40 questions on a self-report basis. The STAI measures two types of anxiety – state anxiety, or anxiety about an event, and trait anxiety, or anxiety level as a personal characteristic. Higher scores are positively correlated with higher levels of anxiety. Its most current revision is Form Y and it is offered in 12 languages. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a psychological inventory based on a 4-point Likert scale and consists of 40 questions on a self-report basis. The STAI measures two types of anxiety – state anxiety, or anxiety about an event, and trait anxiety, or anxiety level as a personal characteristic. Higher scores are positively correlated with higher levels of anxiety. Its most current revision is Form Y and it is offered in 12 languages. It was developed by psychologists Charles Spielberger, R.L. Gorsuch, and R.E. Lushene. Their goal in creating the inventory was to create a set of questions that could be applied towards assessing different types of anxiety. This was a new development because all other questionnaires focused on one type of anxiety at the time. Spielberger also created other questionnaires, like the STAI, that assessed other emotions. These are the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC). The STAI can be utilized across a range of socio-economic statuses and requires a sixth grade reading level. It is used in diagnoses, in both clinical and other medical settings, as well as in research and differentiating between anxiety and depression. Charles Spielberger was not alone in creating the STAI, R.L. Gorsuch, and R.E. Lushene also contributed to its development. It underwent revision to its current form in 1983. It was developed as a method to assess the two types of anxiety, state and trait, in the fields of practice and research. The inventory was developed in a way so that it could be one set of questions that when given the proper direction, could be applied towards the assessment of a specific type of anxiety. Some of the information used in the inventory was taken from other forms of measurement, and in the case of The Affect Adjective Check List (AACL), was even subject to the slight change of its current adjectives. After the inventory had been developed it underwent research to determine if it could be concluded as a valid source of assessment before it could be taken any further. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory is a test/questionnaire given to adults that shows how strong a person’s feelings of anxiety are. It is offered and translated in twelve languages: English, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai. It was developed to provide both short and reliable scales based on a person's answers to access state and trait anxiety. Feelings of unease, worry, tension, and stress can be defined as anxiety. It is usually accompanied by a situation that causes these feelings for example, a big test or interview. It can also be caused by anxiety disorders such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The STAI tests two different types of anxiety, state and trait anxiety. State anxiety (S-anxiety) can be defined as fear, nervousness, discomfort, etc. and the arousal of the autonomic nervous system induced by different situations that are perceived as dangerous. This type of anxiety refers more to how a person is feeling at the time of a perceived threat and is considered temporary. Trait anxiety (T-anxiety) can be defined as feelings of stress, worry, discomfort, etc. that one experiences on a day to day basis. This is usually perceived as how people feel across typical situations that everyone experiences on a daily basis.