Abstract
The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) is a well-known clinical tool for screening anxiety. A number of researches has indicated its utility in a wide range of client groups including adolescents and people with intellectual disability. Its use among predominantly black population in a non-western world, however, is not well-documented. The study set out to examine its psychometric properties among undergraduate students in Ghana. There were 133 participants consisting of 86 males and 47 females with a mean age of 23.83 years (SD = 3.21) who volunteered. The results showed that the full scale mean score was 17.65 (SD = 12.72) with no significant difference between the males and females (t (131) = .05, p > .05, two-tailed). The Cronbach coefficient alpha was .93. The four-factor structure was not supported, instead a three-factor structure consisting of autonomic, somatic, and fear/panic elements was revealed. The correlations between the factors were moderate ranging from .51 to .65. In general, the BAI may be potentially useful as a research tool in Ghana. A number of limitations have been pointed out and future work is required to establish its research and clinical utility in Ghana.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armstrong, K. A., & Khawaja, N. G. (2002). Gender differences in anxiety: an investigation of the symptoms, cognitions, and sensitivity towards anxiety in a nonclinical population. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 227–231.
Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1993). Manual for the Beck Anxiety Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893–897.
Chapman, L. K., & Stegger, M. F. (2008). Race and religion: Differential prediction of anxiety symptoms by religious coping in African American and European American young adults. Depression and Anxiety, 1–7.
Chapman, K. L., Williams, S. R., Mast, B. T., & Woodruff-Bordern, J. (2009). A confirmatory factor analysis of the Beck Anxiety Inventory in African-American and European young adults. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 387–392.
Contreras, S., Fernandez, S., Malcarne, V. L., Ingram, R. E., & Vaccarino, V. R. (2004). Reliability and validity of the Beck depression and anxiety inventories in Caucasian Americans and Latinos. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 26(4), 446–462.
Costello, A. B, Osborne, J. W. (2005). Best Practices in Exploratory Factor Analysis: Four Recommendations for Getting the Most From Your Analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 10(7), Available online: http://paronline.net/getyn.aspiv=10&n=7
Creamer, M., Foran, J., & Bell, R. (1995). The Beck Anxiety Inventory in a nonclinical sample. Behavior Research and Therapy, 33(4), 477–485.
Fydrich, T., Dowdall, D., & Chambless, D. L. (1992). Reliability and validity of the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 6, 55–61.
Hewitt, P. L., & Norton, G. R. (1993). The Beck Anxiety Inventory: a psychometric analysis. Psychological Assessment, 5(4), 408–412.
Kabacoff, R. I., Segal, D. L., Hersen, M., Hasselt, V., & Vincent, B. (1997). Psychometric properties and diagnostic utility of the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory with older adult psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2(1), 33–47.
Kumar, G., Steer, R. A., & Beck, A. T. (1993). Factor structure of the Beck Anxiety Inventory with adolescent psychiatry inpatients. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 6, 125–131.
Morin, C. M., Landreville, P., Colecchi, C., McDonald, K., Jackie, S., & William, L. (1999). The Beck Anxiety Inventory: psychometric properties with older adults. J Clin Geropsychol, 5, 19–29.
Novy, D. M., Stanley, M. A., Averill, P., & Daza, P. (2001). Psychometric comparability of English and Spanish language measures of anxiety and related affective symptoms. Psychological Assessment, 13(3), 347–55.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric Theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Osman, A., Barrios, F. X., Aukes, D., Osman, J. R., & Markway, K. (1993). The Beck Anxiety Inventory: psychometric properties in a community population. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 15, 287–297.
Osman, A., Kopper, B. A., Barrios, F. X., Osman, J. R., & Wade, T. (1997). The Beck Anxiety Inventory: reexamination of factor structure and psychometric properties. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 7–14.
Osman, A., Hoffman, J., Barrios, F. X., Kopper, B. A., Breitenstein, J. L., & Hahn, S. K. (2002). Factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Beck Anxiety Inventory in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(4), 443–456.
Pillay, A. L., Edwards, S. D., Sargent, C., & Dhlomo, R. M. (2001). Anxiety among university students in South Africa. Psychological Reports, 88, 1182–1186.
Steele, G. I., & Edwards, D. J. A. (2008). Development and validation of the Xhosa translations of the Beck Inventories: 2. item analysis, internal consistency, and factor analysis. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 18(2), 217–226.
Stevens, J. (1996). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Terre Blanche, M., & Durrheim, K. (1999). Research in practice: applied methods for the social sciences. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krafona, K. Utility of the Beck Anxiety Inventory Among Ghanaians: a Preliminary Study. J Afr Am St 18, 315–323 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-013-9271-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-013-9271-4