Validation of the State-Trait Distinction in Anxiety Research.

Abstract

High school and university students were given Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale for Children, an intelligence test, and the A-State and A-Trait Scales of Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The STAI A-Stake Scale was administered under one non-stress and two stress conditions to both groups of subjects. A factor analysis of the data for the high school students identified six factors: trait anxiety; t h e e separate state anxiety factors, corresponding to each of the three administrations of the A-State Scale; a reversed-item factor; and an ability factor. A similar factor pattern emerged for the university students. The results were interpreted as providing evidence of the importance of situational stress in evoking anxiety states, and strong support for the slate-trait distinction in anxiety research.