Trait and State Anxiety

Mit dem Thema Angst haben sich die klassischen Schulen der Psychologie schon seit langem befaßt: die Psychoanalyse (z. B. Freud, 1895/1971) mit ihren tiefenpsychologischen Betrachtungen, der Behaviorismus (z. B. Mowrer, 1939) mit seinen Reiz-Reaktions-Analysen sowie die Kognitive Psychologie (z. B. Eysenck, 1992), die seit Ende der 60er Jahre in der Psychologie die vorherrschende Rolle spielt. Letztere betrachtet vor allem Einschätzungen und Informationsverarbeitungsprozesse. Dazu gehört auch die kognitiv-transaktionale Theorie von Streß und Emotionen, die Richard Lazarus (1966, 1991) hervorgebracht hat und die seit über drei Jahrzehnten große Verbreitung und Anerkennung gefunden hat. Nach dieser Theorie entstehen Emotionen aufgrund kognitiver Einschätzungsprozesse. Nicht die kritische Situation an sich löst Gefühle aus, sondern deren subjektive Interpretation. In streßreichen Anforderungssituationen nehmen Menschen eine zweifache kognitive Einschätzung vor, und zwar eine Ereigniseinschätzung (primary appraisal) und damit gleichzeitig eine Ressourceneinschätzung (secondary appraisal). Dieser Vorgang, der nicht unmittelbar bewußt ablaufen muß, endet typischerweise mit einer Bewertungskategorie wie z. B. Herausforderung, Bedrohung oder Schaden/Verlust. Die Angstemotion resultiert dann, wenn sich Bedrohung als die dominante Einschätzungskategorie ergibt (Lazarus, 1991; Schwarzer, 1993). Daran schließen sich Bewältigungsprozesse sowie Neueinschätzungen an. Nach diesem Ansatz ist Angst also eine spezifische, kognitiv vermittelte Emotion im Rahmen einer Streßepisode. Daneben gibt es eine Reihe weiterer aktueller Ansätze, in denen wichtige Differenzierungen des Angstkonstrukts vorgenommen werden, die im folgenden dargestellt werden.

The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS; Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990, Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449-568) provides six subscales for a multidimensional assessment of perfectionism: Concern over Mistakes (CM), Personal Standards (PS), Parental Expectations (PE), Parental Criticism (PC), Doubts about actions (D), and Organization (O). Despite its increasing popularity in personality and clinical research, the FMPS has also drawn some criticism for its factorial instability across samples. The present article argues that this instability may be due to an overextraction of components. Whereas all previous analyses presented six-factor solutions for the FMPS items, a reanalysis with Horn's parallel analysis suggested only four or five underlying factors. To investigate the nature of these factors, item responses from N = 243 participants were subjected to principal component analysis. Again, parallel analysis retained only four components. Varimax rotation replicated PS and O as separate factors, whereas combining CM with D as well as PE with PC. Consequently, the present article suggests a reduction to four (instead of six) FMPS subscales. Differential correlations with anxiety, depression, parental representations, and action tendencies underscore the advantage of this solution.

Bu çalışma Pamukkale Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi 5. ve 6. sınıf öğrencilerinin sürekli kaygı ve mesleki kaygı düzeyleri ve bunları etkileyen etkenlerin saptanması amacıyla yapılmıştır. Kesitsel tipteki bu çalışmaya 101 öğrenci katılmıştır. Veriler, sosyo-demografik sorular, 17 soruluk mesleki kaygı anketi ve 20 soruluk Sürekli Kaygı Ölçeği 2 sorularından oluşan bir anket formu kullanılarak Ekim 2012 tarihinde toplanmıştır. Öğrencilerin sürekli kaygı düzeyinin (42.5 ± 9.1) ve mesleki kaygı düzeyinin (37.9 ± 10.1) orta düzeyde olduğu saptanmıştır. Kız öğrencilerin (40.6 ± 5.1) erkek öğrencilere (35.4 ± 10.5) göre meslekleri ile ilgili daha fazla kaygı duydukları saptanmıştır (p=0.010). Öğrencilerin en çok, tıpta uzmanlık sınavını kazanamama, uzman doktor olamama, çalışma yeri ile ilgili belirsizlik ve acil hastayla baş etme konularında kaygıları olduğu bulunmuştur. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi 5. ve 6. sınıf öğrencileri arasında hem sürekli kaygı ve hem de mesleki kaygı yaygındır. Bu konuda, kampüste psikolojik danışmanlık ve destek birimlerinin oluşturulması ve kullanımının sağlanması gerekmektedir.

Reaction time (RT) is one of the psychomotor skills that determine athletes’ results and also in daily life. RT effective factors are divided into inherent (genetic) and environmental. Among those factors, psychological factors and mental abilities are more important due to the cognitive nature of RT. The aim of this research was to study the relationship between RT, anxiety and IQ of athletes in different skill levels. This relationship was investigated in 85 subjects (in elite and sub elite athletes and no athletes groups) by correlation method. To measure RT, Y1000 devise was used; Spielberger state / trait anxiety inventory (STAI) was used to evaluate anxiety and Raven’s progressive matrices to evaluate IQ. One-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. Results showed that there was a negative significant correlation between choice RT and IQ, and between CRT and state anxiety. Findings supported inverted U hypothesis and it proved the greater influence of IQ with higher complexity of task

Several researchers have found anxiety and depression to be indistinguishable in nonclinical samples and have suggested that both constructs may be components of a general psychological distress process. Another possibility is that overlap is due to the psychometric limitations of scales used. A series of exploratory factor analyses were conducted in a nonclinical sample (N= 605) using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, 1978), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, 1983), and the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EM AS; Endler, Edwards, & Vitelli, 1991). Both state and trait anxiety and depression could be differentiated with the BDI and the EMAS but not with the STAI. Some theoretical models of negative affectivity or general psychopathology may be premature.

This study has been performed to determine the trait anxiety and future occupational anxiety levels of the 5th and 6th year medical students at Pamukkale University and their contributing factors. 101 students participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected in October 2012 by questionnaire, consisting of socio-demographic data, 17 questions about occupational anxiety and 20 questions of the Trait Anxiety Inventory II. Trait anxiety levels of students (42.5 ± 9.1) and occupational anxiety levels (37.9 ± 10.1) were found to be moderate. Female students (40.6 ± 5.1) were found to be more anxious about their profession than male students (35.4 ± 10.5) (p = 0.010) were. Students were most concerned about succeeding in the medical specialization exam in medicine, not being a specialist doctor, being uncertain about the place of work and coping with emergency unit patients. Both trait anxiety and occupational anxiety were prevalent among the 5th and 6th graders at the Faculty of Medicine, Pamukkale University. It is necessary to establish and ensure the use of psychological counseling and support units in the campus.

This paper is a critique of a study that asks: In terminally ill patients who suffer anxiety, what is the effect of LSD-assisted psychotherapy using a moderate 200 μg dose of the drug in comparison to using a 20 μg active placebo dose of the drug in a two-month timeframe, and what are the residual effects after ten to twelve months on those who received the intervention?

According to Schönpflug, an ecologically valid model of behavioral regulation should contain antecedent, focal, and consequential problem variables while allowing for a classification of primary versus auxiliary actions. To study individual differences in dynamic problem solving, the task simulation RISK is introduced. Within this task, highly anxious subjects were expected to demonstrate a greater safety expertise because of a hypothesized tendency to focus on risks and modify them. The results, however, indicated a preference for a more narrow focus: Highly anxious subjects directed their regulatory efforts primarily to focal and consequential problem variables. Yet, in RISK, this was a safe and also successful strategy.

The purpose of the study is to determine if participants induced with stress would have a higher tendency for making disadvantageous decisions compared to those not induced with stress. The sample consisted of 40 students, 6 males and 34 females, of Saint Mary’s University who were randomly gathered and assigned into the experimental and control groups. Stress was induced by informing the experimental group that they had to speak in front of a crowd. Stress was measured through the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI-AD). The results obtained showed no significant difference between the respondent’s group and their decision making skills. Though, there was a statistical difference between the stress levels of the participants and their tendency to make advantageous and disadvantageous decisions. Age and sex were also tested with decision making but no significant difference was found. The results also indicated that the longer the participants played the Iowa Gambling Task which measured decision making, the less advantageous the decisions they made. This study pointed out that stress levels have significant differences in terms of decision making and the longer one plays the IGT, the more disadvantageous decisions they make.
Keywords: Induced stress, stress, anxiety, decision making, Iowa Gambling Task, STAI, STAI-AD, State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults