Self-report measures of anxiety: are they suitable for older adults?

OBJECTIVES: To assess the performance of four self-report measures of anxiety in an older adult population. METHOD: Forty older adults with current or previous anxiety symptoms completed four self-report measures of anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory, State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Visual Analogue Scale) and received an independent diagnostic assessment and rating of anxiety severity. After a minimum of four months, participants were re-assessed on all measures. RESULTS: The self-report measures most suited for anxiety screening and assessing severity when compared to the independent assessment were the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the anxiety scale from the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait form (STAI-T). However, participants made an unacceptably high number of errors using the STAI-T, making the BAI and HADS-A the most suitable measures for older adults. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) performed poorly in both screening and measuring severity. All self-report measures were poor at detecting change as evaluated by the independent assessment. CONCLUSION: There was no single measure that performed adequately in screening, measuring severity and monitoring changes, suggesting that measures may need to be adapted if they are to be used in an older adult population. The lack of appropriately designed self-report measures with adequate normative data for older people presents a barrier to future research.

Addressing domestic violence in the African American community.

This paper focuses on the problem of spouse abuse in the African American community and discusses intervention programs designed to reduce domestic violence. The problem of domestic violence is not new. However, there is increased concern about it, such that the criminal justice system has changed its policy toward this act. This policy considers domestic violence a crime, and arrest the most efficient way to prevent it. Further, providing counseling programs to men is one of the efforts some criminal justice departments are now using. The two programs discussed in this paper are programs used by the criminal justice system. They are designed to prevent repeated domestic violence by focusing on the education of conflict resolution to deal with anger, denial, and jealousy, and the development of interpersonal skills that assist in channeling anger and poor interpersonal communication into positive modes of conduct. Some characteristics of batterers are noted.

Quality of life as context for planning and evaluation of services for people with disabilities.

Quality of life has become a dominant theme in planning and evaluating services for people with disabilities. This article reviews definitions of quality of life, explores the concept from the perspective of the optimal theory of personal well-being, and surveys the research on the concept and its implications for planning and evaluating services. This article explores the subjective nature of life quality, particularly for people with disabilities, and relates the concept to both cultural norms and universal human values and needs. Each person experiences life, and disability, in unique ways. Practitioners need to consider quality-of-life issues as a context in planning and evaluating quality services.

Survey of the use of crisis intervention centers by the black population.

In an attempt to determine the extent to which crisis centers meet the needs of black communities, questionnaires were sent to 12 centers. Responses were received from six. Only two centers, in Nashville and Washington, D.C., had statistics of callers identified by race. The findings from these two centers indicate that there are differences between the white and black callers with regard to age, marital status, and type of problem. As an example, the typical black male caller was older and more concerned about his job and financial problems than were white males. This kind of information suggests a need for expanded services within the crisis center framework, possibly for a more preventive approach. More data gathering concerned the black community using crisis centers is urged in order better to identify the needs of this population and the methods to be used for meeting those needs.