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Beck anxiety inventory
Beck anxiety inventory
Beck anxiety inventory
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The Beck Anxiety Inventory was designed by Aaron T. Beck and is self report scale that consists of 21 items. The items are short and straightforward, making it easy to read and comprehend. All items are related to anxiety and describe a symptom of anxiety that is rate on a four point likert scale according to severity. The answers range from 0-3 and the responses range from “not at all” to “severely; I could barely stand it” and all items are added for a total score. The instructions on the test ask for the respondent to “indicate how much you have been bothered by each symptom during the past week, including today, by placing an X in the corresponding space in the column next to each symptom” (Dowd, 2008). The assessment is intended for adolescents and adults and can be administered individually or in a group setting. An additional copy of the inventory test is also available in Spanish. It was originally created from a sample of 810 outpatients of that were predominately affected by mood and anxiety disorders and research on the original development is described as informative and thorough.
The assessment includes a brief manual which appears to be written for a clinician to conduct. It gives directions on how to administer and score the items. The test kit also includes answer sheets and a computer scoring package. The test is also cohesive with the other assessment tests developed by Beck and they results can be easily combined with one another.
The reliability and validity were researched by using three types of studies: mixed diagnostic group, certified patients diagnosed with DSM-III-R anxiety disorders and a non-clinical sample. It should be noted that the that was used population were psychiatric patients s...
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...sessment should not be used solely for making any diagnostic decisions or decisions related to treatment of any kind but the findings do indicate that the BAI is useful in using as a supportive tool in screening for common anxiety disorders in mental health settings. The assessment would be most effective if used in a tiered diagnostic system, if time constraints interfere with conducting a tiered study then a subsample of individuals would be a suggested option for clinics who are looking for a more time efficient assessment.
References
Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. (1993). Beck Anxiety Inventory 1993 Edition. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Eack, S. M., Singer, J. B., & Greeno, C. G. (2008). Screening for Anxiety and Depression in Community Mental Health: The Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories. Community Mental Health Journal, 44(6), 465-474.
The sample used to norm the test was inclusive, and studies have showed little to no discrepancies in scores in regards to demographics (gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status). I found limited data regarding the exactly reliability coefficients and the validity of the test. However, I did discover this test to be used when determining concurrent validity of other tests of anxiety. There are no limits to this test in regards to a population or administration, as it is written at an elementary reading level and provides multiple administration types (verbal, audio CD, reading) and response types (verbal or nonverbal). The only area of limitation that I believe exists with this test is its vulnerability to self-report biases, affecting the accuracy of the scores produced for children. I feel very comfortable using this measure in my profession, and believe it can provide a strong base for assessing a child’s anxiety levels and their impacts socially or
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
2. By looking through the case study, the most prominent problem Sara struggles with, is her persistent worry about different parts of her life including her job status, health and her relationship with her husband. For the past six months, she has been anxious and worried excessively, leading her to have difficulty sleeping. As she admitted, “ I cannot shut my brain off anymore, I am worrying all the time”, therefore her condition met the primary criteria of generalized anxiety disorder which is the excessive worry for at least 6 months more days than not, about diverse events and activities. Being restless, irritable, having sleep difficulty and being easily fatigued are four factors of GAD that are apparent in this case. “I have always had lots of energy but now at times I struggle to get out of bed and drag myself thorough the work day”; it indicates the fatigue she recently experienced. Fidgets with her jewellery when speaking and a nervous laugh she has, shows her persistent anxiety. Moreover, she was recently diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome which has a high comorbidity with anxiety disorders. In conclusion, since she is persistently worried about different aspects of her life and she has the criteria for GAD, generalized anxiety disorder is the most likable disorder she has.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory-II. Retrieved August 18, 2011from EBSCOhost.
Alice Park’s article in TIME Magazine, entitled “The Two Faces of Anxiety”, outlines the key positive and negative effects anxiety can have on both the individual and humanity as a whole. Because of the steady increase in diagnoses of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and similar mental illnesses, evaluating the origins of anxiety as well as its effects are crucial steps for developing both medical treatments and alternative methods of coping with the disorder. While many of the 40 million American adults suffering from anxiety believe that eliminating the feeling altogether is ideal, they fail to consider what psychologists have mounds of empirical evidence in support of: anxiety is not inherently adverse, and can, in many cases, be advantageous. Anxiety is generally understood to be a biological process in which specific symptoms, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, manifest as a response to stressful scenarios. In these potentially-fatal situations, the fight-or-flight response is an evolutionary reaction developed to prevent species from engaging in behavior that could result in extreme negative consequences, while also preparing them for possible conflict. Overall, this response is a constructive adaptation, but an issue arises when individuals face stressful, albeit non-fatal, situations. The body still experiences the same symptoms despite the absence of any “real” danger, and the person suffering from the anxiety feels as though he or she has little control over the behaviors brought on by the condition. Triggered by both genetic and environmental factors, there appears to be a wide variation in the severity of anxiety as well as what treatment methods are effective for each individual. However, many psychologists ...
According to MacNeil (2001), panic disorders tend to be chronic in nature, and much of the data involving treatment effectiveness relates to relative improvement rather than absolute improvement. In a study, Treatment of Panic Disorders with Agoraphobia in an Anxiety Disorders Clinic, done by Vladan Starcevic et al., (2004), they conducted research based on three treatments focusing on CBT: CBT alone, CBT with a high-potency benzodiazepine (CBT+BZ) and CBT combined with fluoxetine (an antidepressant) and BZ (CBT+BZ+AD). There were one hundred and two patients selected with PDA, seventy-four women and twenty-eight men. All patients had to go through an assessment, educa...
Bearing in mind that an anxiety response is a result of various factors, there are different types of anxiety disorders. The most common type of anxiety disorders as described as specific phobias, social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) (2016), specific phobias affect about 19 million adults in the U.S, while SAD affects 15 million, PD affects 6 million, GAD affects about 6.8 million, OCD affects about 2.2 million and PTSD affects 7.7 million adults respectively. Considering that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S, yet only about one-third of those suffering receive treatment (ADAA, 2016).
(198)First, we need to understand what fear and anxiety is. Fear is when the nervous system responds to a threat to ones well being. Anxiety is when there is a vague sense of danger. Both of these term help the body determine when action needs to be taken like “Fight” or “Flight”. When they both come clinically significant is when people can’t not live there normal lives without one or there other or both interfering. “Their discomfort is so server or to frequent, last too long, or is trigger to easily, (Comer, 2013, pp.114)”. Then they are termed with having an anxiety disorder or some other disorder. Most psychologist use the DSM-5 check list when diagnosing a patient with anxiety disorder. They look for these signs that the DSM-5 list:
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition. Arlington : American Psychiatric Association.
Williams, J. B. (1988) A structured interview guide for the Hamilton depression rating scale. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 45, 742-747.
Kahn, Ada P., and Jan Fawcett. The Encyclopedia of Mental Health. 2nd ed. New York: Facts On File, 2001.
The Beck Anxiety Inventory is a 21-item scale that measures the severity of self-reported anxiety in adults and adolescents. The inventory was created by Aaron T. Beck and his colleague, Robert A. Steer, at the Center for Cognitive Therapy, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. The most recent edition was published in 1993 by The Psychological Corporation, Harcourt Brace & Company in San Antonio, TX. The first edition was published in 1988. The 1993 edition recommends different scoring guidelines than previous editions. There is only one form and one manual as part of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). To purchase the BAI in 2010, the manual and 25 scoring sheets would cost $110.00. This information is from the Pearson Assessments website.
The Beck Youth Inventory Test was developed in 2001 by Judith Beck, Aaron Beck, John Jolly, and Robert Steer. The purpose of this psychological testing tool is a brief self-report to measure the distress in children and adolescents (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). The Beck Youth Inventory includes using five self-administered scales. The five tests include the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Anger Inventory, Beck Disruptive Inventory, and the Beck Self-Concept Inventory. These tests can be administered individually or in combination to the youth. The intended population for this test is ages 7-14 years (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). This test is used to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behavior, and self esteem (Beck, 2001).
National Institute of Mental Health. (2009). Studying anxiety disorders. NIH Medline plus, 5, 13-15. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-index.shtml