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Development of the Response to Fearful Situations Scale
Katherine A McDermott1, Kristin Fitch2, Kirsten H Dillon3
1Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL32304, USA.
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
|July 29, 2020
Summary
The new Response to Fearful Situations Scale (RFSS) measures both avoidance and approach tendencies in fearful situations. This validated scale offers a transdiagnostic tool for assessing responses to fear across various conditions.
Area of Science:
- Psychological assessment
- Clinical psychology
- Fear and anxiety research
Background:
- Existing measures of anxious avoidance often focus on disorder-specific factors.
- Current assessments neglect the measurement of courage or approach behaviors when confronting feared situations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a self-report measure assessing the tendency toward avoidant or approach responses in fearful situations.
- Introduce the Response to Fearful Situations Scale (RFSS).
Main Methods:
- Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the scale's structure.
- Test-retest reliability and predictive validity were assessed.
- The RFSS was correlated with behavioral avoidance tasks and clinical symptom measures.
Main Results:
- Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure: avoidance and approach.
- The RFSS demonstrated good test-retest reliability and predictive validity.
- The scale showed significant associations with clinical symptoms, exceeding existing measures.
Conclusions:
- The Response to Fearful Situations Scale (RFSS) is a validated, transdiagnostic instrument.
- The RFSS effectively measures both avoidance and approach responses to fear.
- This scale can be utilized across different psychological conditions.
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