Anxiety questionnaire
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Anxiety Questionnaires: A Comprehensive Overview
Introduction to Anxiety Questionnaires
Anxiety disorders are prevalent mental health conditions that require effective tools for diagnosis and monitoring. Various questionnaires have been developed to assess anxiety symptoms, each with unique features and psychometric properties. This article synthesizes research on several prominent anxiety questionnaires, including the GAD-7, GAD-2, ASQ, ADDQ, SAQ, and others.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and GAD-2: Validity and Reliability
The GAD-7 and its shorter version, the GAD-2, are widely used tools for screening generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and other anxiety disorders. Research indicates that the GAD-7 has good sensitivity and specificity for identifying GAD at cutoff scores between 7 and 10, with pooled sensitivity and specificity values of 0.83 and 0.84, respectively2. The GAD-2, with a cutoff score of 3, also shows acceptable sensitivity (0.76) and specificity (0.81) for identifying GAD2. These tools are validated across various populations and are effective for both clinical and non-clinical settings1 2.
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) Series: PHQ-9, PHQ-8, PHQ-2, and PHQ-15
The PHQ series, including the PHQ-9, PHQ-8, PHQ-2, and PHQ-15, are comprehensive tools for assessing depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. The PHQ-9 and its shorter versions (PHQ-8 and PHQ-2) are validated for detecting depressive disorders, while the GAD-7 and GAD-2 are effective for anxiety disorders1. The PHQ-15 is particularly useful for assessing somatic symptoms and screening for somatoform disorders, with cutpoints of 5, 10, and 15 representing mild, moderate, and severe symptom levels1. These tools are sensitive to changes in symptom severity, making them valuable for monitoring treatment progress1.
Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (ASQ): Development and Validation
The ASQ is a brief self-report measure designed to assess the frequency and intensity of anxiety symptoms. It has demonstrated strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The ASQ effectively distinguishes patients with anxiety disorders from non-clinical controls and is a reliable tool for both clinical and college settings3. Factor analysis supports the measurement of a single dimension of anxiety, and the ASQ shows significant correlations with other established anxiety measures3.
Anxiety Disorder Diagnostic Questionnaire (ADDQ): Screening Across Diagnoses
The ADDQ is designed to assess a common pathology of anxiety across different diagnostic categories. It evaluates fear, anxiety/worry, escape/avoidance behaviors, physiological symptoms, and associated distress and interference. The ADDQ has shown strong internal consistency and validity in both clinical and non-clinical populations. It is particularly useful for screening and monitoring anxiety irrespective of specific diagnoses4.
Social Anxiety Questionnaire (SAQ): Specificity for Social Anxiety
The SAQ is a specialized tool for assessing social anxiety, developed with input from participants across multiple countries. It comprises 30 items and identifies five factors: interactions with strangers, public speaking, interactions with the opposite sex, criticism and embarrassment, and assertive expression of annoyance. The SAQ has strong internal consistency, convergent validity, and measurement invariance, making it a reliable tool for both clinical and non-clinical populations5.
Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ): Focus on Health-Related Anxiety
The HAQ is designed to measure health anxiety based on a cognitive-behavioral model. It assesses worry and health preoccupation, fear of illness and death, reassurance-seeking behavior, and the impact of symptoms on daily life. The HAQ has demonstrated good internal consistency, short-term stability, and appropriate discriminant validity. It is useful for identifying individuals with high levels of health anxiety and predicting their response to medical reassurance9.
Conclusion
Anxiety questionnaires such as the GAD-7, GAD-2, PHQ series, ASQ, ADDQ, SAQ, and HAQ are essential tools for diagnosing and monitoring anxiety disorders. Each questionnaire has unique strengths and is validated for specific populations and settings. These tools provide reliable and valid measures of anxiety symptoms, aiding in effective clinical assessment and treatment planning.
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Most relevant research papers on this topic
The Patient Health Questionnaire Somatic, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptom Scales: a systematic review.
The PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PHQ-15 are brief, well-validated measures for detecting and monitoring depression, anxiety, and somatization in primary care and medical specialty populations.
Systematic Review
Highly CitedScreening for anxiety disorders with the GAD-7 and GAD-2: a systematic review and diagnostic metaanalysis.
The GAD-7 and GAD-2 questionnaires are effective in identifying generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) at cutoff scores 7-10 and 3 respectively.
Meta-AnalysisHighly CitedAnxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (ASQ): development and validation
The Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (ASQ) is a valid, reliable, and effective self-rated measure of anxiety, useful for screening and assessing anxiety symptoms in psychiatric and college settings.
Observational Study
Rigorous JournalDevelopment and Evaluation of the Anxiety Disorder Diagnostic Questionnaire
The Anxiety Disorder Diagnostic Questionnaire (ADDQ) is a reliable and valid tool for assessing clinical fear and anxiety in both clinical and nonclinical populations.
Observational StudyPsychometric properties of an innovative self-report measure: The Social Anxiety Questionnaire for adults.
The Social Anxiety Questionnaire for adults (SAQ) is a reliable and valid tool for assessing social anxiety in adults, with a 5-factor structure and cut scores for men and women.
Observational StudyPrimary clinical testing of the questionnaire “Brief questionary of quality of anxiety” in patients with generalized anxiety disorder
The new questionnaire effectively assesses anxiety in generalized anxiety disorder patients, revealing differences in behavior, cognition, and personal traits compared to healthy volunteers.
Rigorous JournalPreliminary reliability and validity of the generalized anxiety disorder questionnaire-IV: A revised self-report diagnostic measure of generalized anxiety disorder
The GAD-Q-IV is a reliable and valid self-report diagnostic measure for generalized anxiety disorder, showing 89% specificity and 83% sensitivity.
Observational StudyHighly CitedScreening for anxiety in an epidemiological sample: predictive accuracy of questionnaires.
Questionnaires can effectively screen for anxiety in young female adults, particularly when targeting specific anxiety disorders like agoraphobia.
Observational StudyThe Health Anxiety Questionnaire
The Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ) effectively identifies individuals with high health anxiety, reflecting enduring features consistent with the cognitive-behavioral model.
Observational StudyHighly CitedAdaptation and initial validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder – 7 Questionnaire (GAD-7) in an Arabic speaking Lebanese psychiatric outpatient sample
The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are reliable screening tools for depression and anxiety in an Arabic-speaking Lebanese psychiatric outpatient sample, with the PHQ-9 being more sensitive for depressive symptoms but not specific for anxiety symptoms.
Observational StudyRigorous JournalHighly Cited