Psychometric Comparability of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Different Ethnic Subpopulations

This study, which was based on 285 Ss who were experiencing stressful and potentially anxiety-producing situations associated with pain, revealed comparable psychometric adequacy in descriptive statistics and estimates of internal consistency for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Form Y across different ethnic groups and gender, namely, White, Black, and Latino men and women. Examination of item-remainder correlations identifies certain particularly salient screening items for Black men and underscores the importance of individualized item analysis in the interpretation of obtained scale scores. Consistently strong correlations between A-State and A-Trait scale scores with MMPI Depression and Psychasthenia scales and Beck Depression Inventory scores, as well as with scores on the Beck Hopelessness Scale, provided supportive evidence for convergent validity across the subpopulations. Weaker and more variable correlations obtained with other external measures of psychopathology and psychosocial functioning suggested the possibility of discriminant validity.