Mass Shootings Anxiety Scale: A preliminary psychometric study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Mass shootings are a growing public health concern, increasing anxiety and fear.
• Existing measures may not adequately capture the specific anxieties associated with mass shooting events.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Mass Shootings Anxiety Scale (MSAS).
• To provide a reliable and valid screening tool for assessing anxiety related to mass shootings.

Main Methods:

• Development of a five-item Mass Shootings Anxiety Scale (MSAS) using data from 759 adults.
• Evaluation of reliability (Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega), factorial validity (PCA, CFA), and convergent validity.
• Assessment of measurement invariance across demographic groups and discriminant and incremental validity.

Main Results:

• The MSAS demonstrated high reliability (α = 0.93, ω = 0.93) and strong factorial and convergent validity.
• The scale showed measurement invariance across gender, political orientation, and gun violence exposure.
• A cut score of ≥10 indicated dysfunctional anxiety with high sensitivity (92%) and specificity (89%), and the MSAS explained additional variance in outcomes.

Conclusions:

• The Mass Shootings Anxiety Scale (MSAS) is a reliable and valid instrument for screening dysfunctional anxiety related to mass shootings.
• The MSAS can be a valuable tool in clinical practice and scholarly research for assessing and understanding mass shooting-related anxiety.