State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is an introspective psychological inventory consisting of 40 self-report items pertaining to anxiety affect. The STAI was constructed by Charles Spielberger, R.L. Gorsuch, and R.E. Lushene, based on the state-trait distinction proposed by Raymond Cattell in 1961. Their goal was to compile a set of items that could measure anxiety at both poles of the normal affect curve (state vs. trait). Feelings of unease, worry, tension, and stress can be defined as anxiety. Feelings of anxiety may occur in stressful situations such as when confronted with an important test or interview, or may be associated with psychological disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder. The STAI purports to measure one's conscious awareness at two extremes of anxiety affect, labeled state anxiety (A-state), and trait anxiety (A-trait), respectively. Affectivity ranges from immediate, transitory emotional states, through longer-lasting mood states, through dynamic motivational traits, ranging all the way up to relatively enduring personality traits. Higher STAI scores suggest higher levels of anxiety. The most recent version is the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults™ (STAI-AD). Although originally based on English language words, the STAI subsequently has been translated and adapted into more than 40 different languages including, for example, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai. The STAI was revised into its current form in 1983. The STAI can be administered across a range of socio-economic status levels and requires only a sixth grade reading level. It is used (along with other measures) in making diagnoses and distinguishing between anxiety and depression, in clinical settings, as well as in research.

Spielberger also constructed other self-report state-trait scales purported to measure various other emotions and dispositions such as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), the State-Trait Curiosity Inventory (STCI), the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), and the State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI).

State anxiety (A-State) can be defined as fear, nervousness, discomfort, and the arousal of the autonomic nervous system induced temporarily by situations perceived as dangerous (i.e., how a person is feeling at the time of a perceived threat).

Examples: A child feels anxious when confronted by a large, strange animal. A person feels anxious to get on an airplane for the first time.

Trait anxiety (A-Trait) can be defined as a relatively enduring disposition to feel stress, worry, and discomfort.

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