Assessment of state and trait anxiety in subjects with anxiety and depressive disorders

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is one of the most widely used scales for the evaluation of anxiety in medical and, to a lesser extent, psychiatric patients. Although there is a relatively large amount of STAI data about anxiety for individuals with a variety of psychiatric disorders, the results of many anxiety studies include only state or trait and many studies have been influenced by comorbidity and by variations in diagnostic criteria used. We studied state and trait anxiety and compared the revised form of the STAI (Form Y) with the original (Form X) to evaluate the anticipated improvement in the measure. In addition, we compared the STAI results with those of another self-report measure (the Symptom Checklist-90 anxiety and depression scales) and also with interviewer-rated measures of anxiety (Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety) and depression (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression). Results indicate that the STAI does not clearly differentiate anxiety disorders from depressive disorders and support the use of multiple tests and of both self-report and interviewer ratings in the evaluation of anxiety and depression in psychiatric patients.