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A dimensional approach to measuring anxiety for DSM-5
Richard T Lebeau1, Daniel E Glenn, Lauren N Hanover
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA. rlebeau@ucla.edu
International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research
|November 14, 2012
Summary
New brief self-rated scales for anxiety disorders show promising psychometric properties and clinical sensitivity. These scales support the integration of dimensional assessments into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) for anxiety disorders.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Clinical Assessment
Background:
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) aimed to incorporate dimensional assessments alongside categorical diagnoses.
- Brief, reliable self-rated scales are needed to complement traditional diagnostic methods for anxiety disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop brief, consistent self-rated scales for anxiety disorders.
- To evaluate the psychometric properties and clinical sensitivity of these newly developed scales.
Main Methods:
- Development of brief self-rated scales for anxiety disorders.
- Psychometric evaluation across three phases involving non-clinical and clinical samples (total N=797).
- Assessment of internal consistency, convergent validity, test-retest reliability, and correlation with clinician ratings.
Main Results:
- Scales demonstrated good internal consistency (α=0.85-0.92) and convergent validity (r=0.39-0.69).
- Test-retest reliability was adequate in non-clinical samples (ICC=0.51-0.81).
- Clinical samples showed significantly higher scores (d=0.72-1.50) and moderate to high correlations with clinician severity ratings (r=0.43-0.82).
Conclusions:
- The developed scales show preliminary support for their use in DSM-5, facilitating dimensional assessment of anxiety disorders.
- Further refinement of specific scales (e.g., specific phobia, agoraphobia) is warranted.
- These scales represent a step towards integrating standardized dimensional measurements into anxiety disorder diagnosis.
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