EVALUATION OF MEASUREMENT TOOL 1

Evaluation of Measurement Tool

Nicolette Sperczak

Social Work 560 Section 601

Kutztown University

September 27, 2020

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Table of Contents

Anxiety……………………………………………………………….…………………………... 3

Beck Anxiety Inventory …………………………………………………………………………..3

Measurement Tool on Population 1……………………………………………………………….4

Measurement Tool on Population 1……………………………………………………………….4

Importance in Social Work………………..………………………………………………………5

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Anxiety

According to the American Psychological Association, anxiety is emotion characterized

by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure

("Anxiety", 2021). These emotions may lead to intrusive thinking, avoiding situations, and

include physical symptoms such as excessive sweating, increase heart rate, and shaking.

Although anxiety is a part of life and can occur during stressful or high-stake moments, an

anxiety disorder is much great than the nervousness one may feel before a big exam. According

to NIMH, anxiety disorders have a large, negative impact on an individual’s life since it is seen

as a disorder once symptoms occur most days over the span of 6 months and more. There are

different types of anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various

phobia-related disorders. However, all types revolve around the general idea of extreme

worrying that impacts an individual’s life, including relationships, job performance, and

attendance to important events. ("NIMH - Anxiety Disorders", 2021)

Beck Anxiety Inventory

The Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI, is a tool used to measure anxiety in individuals based

on experience of symptoms and their severity. one of the most used clinical rating scales. “In

previous studies, BAI scores have shown high internal consistency, with Cronbach α of .92 and

moderate test-retest reliability for one week with r = .75 (Quintao, 2013).”According to Great

Planes Health, to use the tool, participants must read through a list of 21 symptoms and rate them

on a scale of 0, 1, 2, or 3. A rating of 1 correlates with “Not at all,” meaning the participant does

not ever experience the listed symptom. A rating of 1 would correlate with “Mildly,” meaning

the participant sometimes experienced the symptom but it does not bother them much. A rating

of 2 correlates with “moderate,” which would indicate that the participant experienced the
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symptom, and it was bothersome at times. Lastly, a rating of 3 would indicate severe bothersome

of the symptoms listed. The participants must go through the 21 items and use the rating scale

based on symptoms that month. The ratings are then added up by the researcher or examiner and

the severity of the individual’s anxiety is diagnosed minimal to severe. A score of 0-21 would

indicate low anxiety, a score of 22-35 would indicate moderate anxiety, and a core of 36 and

above indicates a potentially concerning level of anxiety. ("Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)",

2021)

Measurement Tool on Population 1

In one study by Yicheng Zhou et al., the BAI is applied to over 500 post-graduate

students in China to measure anxiety and mental health in an environment that is high-pressure

for the population being considered. The sample for the research came from 100 postgraduate

students from 6 universities. Of those 600 selected, 531 participated in the study to analyze

anxiety on the BAI scale. In the sample, 58.3% were men and 41.7% were women. Participants

of the study had an average age of 23 years old but ranged from 22-26 years old. Through the

study, it was found that 50.3% of the participants were equal to, or higher than a score of 16,

which is above moderate anxiety. Reliability of the BAI was found to be reliable evidenced by,

“Cronbach’s alpha coefficients when an item is deleted are all over .9, but below the total

coefficients, ranging from .937 to .940, indicating that each item is necessary and of equal

importance (Zhou, et al. 2018).” This concluded that if any symptom were deleted from the BAI,

it would affect the scale’s reliability.

Measurement Tool on Population 2

In the next study, Brazilian BAI was compared to other tools of measurement used for

anxiety. These tools included State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a questionnaire make up of two
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sections of 20 statements, and the Zung Anxiety Scale, which also consisted of 20 statements to

be evaluated. Each of the three tools used a four-point Likert scale. By comparing all three tools,

the purpose of the study was to validate the BAI tool. “Item reliability was very high for every

scale, close to 1.00. As to person reliability, BAI (.79) is reasonably good, STAI-state and STAI-

trait are very good (.91 both) and Zung (.71) is moderate. These values have some similarity with

the Cronbach’s  of classical theory (Quintao, 2013).” States that if one is taking the DSM-IV as

a standard, the BAI scale holds validity “because their items covered 45% of symptomatic

criteria specific of anxiety disorders and 78% of the symptoms of panic attacks (Quintao, 2013).”

In total, when compared to other measurement tools used in Brazil to measure anxiety, BAI

showed high validity and reliability.

Importance in Social Work

The BAI scale plays a large role in the mental health field of Social Work. Although it is

not a diagnosis tool, the BAI can be used to assess a diagnosis for individuals based on severity.

Anxiety can be immensely impactful on an individual, as stated earlier, and their daily lives.

Firstly, anxiety is related to stress and stress has been known to affect individual’s physical

health in many ways. Anxiety affects quality of life in individuals which affects many aspects of

normal living. An individual living with anxiety does not only experience symptoms for

themselves, but these symptoms can have impact on surrounding relationships. Because of this

impact, it is important for social workers to clearly see the correlation of an anxiety diagnosis

and family life. Not only can the BAI scale be validation of diagnosis for an individual

struggling with their mental health, but it can also be an explanation of symptoms that may have

cause rift or tension within family units. The BAI scale could also be a helpful tool to share with

family members, which serve as a diagnosed individual’s support system, to be able to identify
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symptoms to know when a diagnosed individual is triggers or going through an attack. The BAI

tool for scaling anxiety can have tremendous impact for a person and their family going through

the mental health recovery journey.

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References

Anxiety. https://www.apa.org. (2021). Retrieved 27 September 2021, from

https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety.

Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Gphealth.org. (2021). Retrieved 27 September 2021, from

https://www.gphealth.org/media/1087/anxiety.pdf.

NIMH - Anxiety Disorders. Nimh.nih.gov. (2021). Retrieved 27 September 2021, from

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders

Quintão, S., Delgado, A. R., & Prieto, G. (2013). Validity Study of the Beck Anxiety Inventory

(Portuguese version) by the Rasch Rating Scale Model. Psicologia: Reflexão e

Critica, 26(2), 305–310.

YICHENG ZHOU, JING AN, MINGWANG CHENG, LIYING SHENG, GUOQIANG RUI,

MAMUBIEKE MAHEFUZHA, & JUN YAO. (2018). Confirmatory Factor Analysis of

the Beck Anxiety Inventory among Chinese Postgraduates. Social Behavior &

Personality: An International Journal, 46(8), 1245–1254.

https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6923