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Development and validation of an Overall Anxiety Severity And Impairment Scale (OASIS)
Sonya B Norman1, Shadha Hami Cissell, Adrienne J Means-Christensen
1Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California, USA. snorman@ucsd.edu
Abstract:
Establishing severity and impairment associated with anxiety is important in many settings. We developed a brief (five-item) continuous measure, the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS), which can be used across anxiety disorders, with multiple anxiety disorders, and with subthreshold anxiety symptoms. Seven hundred eleven college students completed the OASIS and additional self-report assessments of anxiety-related concerns and symptoms. A subset of students completed several measures again 1 month later. Results of a split-sample analysis suggested a single-factor structure, with all five items having salient loadings. The OASIS demonstrated excellent 1-month test-retest reliability, and convergent and divergent validity. The OASIS merits consideration as a brief measure of anxiety-related severity and impairment that can be used across anxiety disorders.
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