PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE SCALE FOR ANXIETY MEASUREMENT (SAM)

ABSTRACT

Anxiety has many forms and affects a large section of society across the life span. Many tools have been developed to examine Anxiety as a trait; however, clinical aspects of Anxiety have not been assessed properly. Scale for Anxiety Measurement (SAM) is a self-report questionnaire that contains 65 items that measure anxiety on nine dimensions generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, separation anxiety disorder, somatic symptoms disorder, illness anxiety disorder, state and trait anxiety, and impact scale. We aim to develop a screening tool for the non-clinical population to identify areas of concern in anxiety as per DSM-V diagnostic categories. In this paper, we aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the SAM in a non-clinical setting. The standardization of the questionnaire was conducted on participants from the normal population (n=944) and clinical population (n=102). Principal Component Analysis and item analysis was performed to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Test-Retest Reliability of SAM was measured on a sub-set(n=34) who re-administered the SAM after a week. Results revealed that there are 16 dimensions and the total model explained 64.8% variance with 61 items. Internal consistency, using Cronbach alpha and test-retest reliability was strong. The SAM is a valid, reliable, and effective measure of anxiety. It will be a useful tool for screening and assessing anxiety symptoms in non-clinical as well as clinical Indian settings.