Short STAI-Y anxiety scales: validation and normative data for elderly subjects.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Psychological Assessment
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Anxiety screening in elderly populations is crucial for timely intervention.
• Existing anxiety scales, like the STAI-Y, can be lengthy, potentially causing fatigue in older adults.
• Development of shorter, validated instruments is needed for efficient screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate short forms of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) trait and state scales.
• To establish appropriate norms for elderly populations using these shortened scales.
• To facilitate anxiety screening in older adults with reduced burden.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from two French epidemiological studies of older persons.
• Applied principal components analysis to identify and retain the most discriminative items for state and trait anxiety.
• Assessed internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha and computed cut-offs and norms.

Main Results:

• A 10-item STAI-Y version demonstrated comparable scores and factorial structure to the full scales.
• Achieved high internal consistency (alpha = 0.92 for state, 0.85 for trait).
• Accurately classified 88% of participants using a cut-off of 23, with provided norms stratified by demographics and depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Shortened STAI-Y scales maintain psychometric properties similar to the full versions.
• The brief scales effectively identify anxious and non-anxious elderly individuals.
• The reduced length enhances acceptability and reduces fatigue in elderly participants, improving screening efficiency.