Use of the anxiety control questionnaire in psychiatric inpatients

We studied the reliability and validity of a measure of perceived control-the Anxiety Control Questionnaire (ACQ)-in a group of psychiatric inpatients. Eighty-nine patients hospitalized on a short-term, university-based psychiatric inpatient unit completed the ACQ, Anxiety Sensitivity Index, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, MacArthur Admission Experience Survey, and the Lehman Quality of Life Interview. The reliability and validity of the ACQ were consistent with expectations based on prior research with outpatients. Lower levels of perceived control were associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety, lower subjective quality of life, and more perceptions of negative pressure associated with hospital admission. The findings support the potential of the ACQ as a measure of perceived control in psychiatric inpatients. Treatment implications are discussed.