Construct Development and Scale Creation of Anxiety
Alisa Lichtenstein
PSYCH 525
June 8th, 2013
Dr. Robert Duncan

Construct Development and Scale Creation of Anxiety Many types of anxiety disorders exist in individual’s and today’s society. The overwhelming burden of work, school, children, responsibilities, and other commitments often contribute to a general diagnosis of anxiety by a medical professional. People may be identified as having panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder or generalized anxiety disorder. The scale created for this assignment measures the general anxiety level in both males and females, with a determining factor of whether or not they have children. The measure of construct examines whether or not there is a correlation between being a parent and displaying symptoms of anxiety. This construct development will introduce the scaling method selected, the type of instrument used to measure the construct of anxiety, the participants involved, the reliability measures, and the established validity as well. Items selected for this scale creation will be further discussed, in reference to their significance and relevance of the overall findings.

There are different ways to define anxiety and the context may pertain to a specific situation or factor. Anxious apprehension and fear are emotional responses to threat or danger that provoke someone to relieve the emotional state. (Rosen, 1998) The operational definitional used for this construct is: How often have you been bothered with feelings of worry, stress, or agitation? This is a general question regarding anxious symptoms, that both people with and without children can answer. Anxiety is exhibited worldwide and a study involving anxiety levels of a parent, are both informative and educational. It is well known that “Some parents even worry about worrying too much.”(Moore, 2004) It is important to take into account the validity with this type of measure since anxiety disorders present a lot of the same symptoms as depressive disorders. For example, “negative affect” is both a common symptom and sign to depressed emotions on self-reported tests. (Chorpita, 1998) The five items used to sample the domain are: Physical tension, insomnia, worry, agitation, and upset stomach. A self report instrument is used, which consists of 14 questions on a questionnaire.. There is a rating scale of 0 to 4. 0 = not at all, 1 = very little, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, and 4 = all the time. The results are based on the ordinal scale of development because this rank can put the subjects into order from highest to lowest on a scale. It can also show whether or not a person has more or less of a characteristic and points the measurement of degrees of differences. Here is a list of the 14 item questionnaire: OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS: 1. Do you tend to worry about a lot of things in your life? 2. Do you find that you are tense and unable to relax? 3. Do you ever experience an upset stomach or stomach problems? 4. Are you restless, that you find it hard to sit still? 5. Do you ever miss work or school because you do not feel well? 6. Do you feel bad about yourself or have let yourself or family down? 7. Do you feel easily annoyed or irritable? 8. Do you feel afraid as if something bad might happen? 9. Do you feel tried or have little energy? 10. Do you have trouble concentrating, on things such as reading or watching T.V.? 11. Do you have a poor appetite or tend to overeat? 12. Are you nervous about tasks and responsibilities for tomorrow? 13. Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? 14. Do you have little interest or pleasure in doing things?
This instrument that was developed to measure anxiety in a person was influenced by the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) or also known as the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAS). After researching different methods, this seemed to measure the severity of anxiety symptoms in a person the most accurately. There was certain criteria that needed met before a respondent could participate in the study. This test was given to 100 people that were both male and female. 50 of theses people had at least two kids and 50 of them had no kids at all. It was given to adults between the ages of 25 and 45, who were currently not taking any anti-anxiety medication and who either worked full time or were full time students. This instrument will be applied to the general population when completed. The reliability measure used for this test is Cronbach’s Alpha. It is a statistical test to measure the internal consistency of a test, scale, or tool. If the score is >.70 -.80, that says the items in the tool are similar and implies the questions are measuring the same construct. Establishing validity for this test will be done in few ways. A correlational analysis will be done by comparing known established tools that measure the same concept. If the correlation is statistically significant then it says the measures are similar; ie capturing the same or nearly the same construct. Face validity is another method used to measure the validity of the test. Based on clinical experts, their responses will indicate whether or not the tool captures the construct of interest. Last of all, item selection is based on DSM IV TR criteria for anxiety and these items measure the various criteria needed to make a diagnosis of anxiety. The importance of reliability and validity measures cannot be stressed enough for this tool, as that is what makes it obtainable after the test construction process to try out on a population.

CONCLUSION
This scale creation used to measure anxiety levels in adults, will help determine whether or not having children leads to more or less anxious symptoms. Only after the 100 individuals are surveyed, and the reliability and validity measures are taken into account, can a statistical analysis be put forth. After then a factored analysis be made with statistics that will relate to the general population. It is a test that measures the general anxiety levels of people and related anxious symptoms and whether or not having children exacerbates the condition. The rating scale and instrument used for this construct is the most appropriate method to use with hopefully the most accurate results.

REFERENCE
Chorpita, B.F., & Barlow, D.H. (1998). The development of anxiety: The role of control in the early environment. Psychological Bulletin, 12-4(1), 3-21.

Moore, L. (2004, Oct 16). Anxiety Season for Parents. Sault Star Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/348657904?accountid=35812

Rosen, J.B., & Schulkin, J. (1998). From normal fear to pathological anxiety. Psychological Review, 105(2), 325-350.

CONCLUSION