Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish the extent and direction of the relationship between physiological and self-report measures of anxiety. Helping-profession trainees’ responses at rest, in anticipation of a stressful situation, and during the stressful situation were monitored with electromyography and finger temperature instruments. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered at the conclusion of each of the three data collection phases. The results did not reveal a relationship among the three distinct assessment modalities during any phase of the study. In general, the Pearson produce-moment correlation coefficients were so small as to say little about the strength or direction. However, the relationship of each assessment modality with itself in later phases of the study was significant at the .01 level.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ax, A. F. The physiological differentiation between fear and anger in humans. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1953, 15, 433–442.
Bloom, L. J., & Trautt, G. M. Finger pulse volume as a measure of anxiety: Further evaluation. Psychophysiology, 1977, 14, 541-544.
Bowman, J. T., Roberts, G. T., & Giesen, J. M. Counselor trainee anxiety during the initial counseling interview. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1978, 25, 137–143.
Brown, B. B. New mind, new body. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.
Brown, B. B. Stress and the art of biofeedback. New York: Harper & Row, 1977.
Cattell, R. B., & Scheier, I. H. The nature of anxiety: A review of thirteen multivariate analyses comprising 814 variables. Psychological Reports, 1958, 4, 351–388.
Crabbs, M. A. The induction and attenuation of state anxiety in helping profession trainees during the initial counseling interview. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University, 1979.
Davidson, R. J., & Schwartz, G. E. The psychobiology of relaxation and related states: A multi-process theory. In D. I. Mostofsky (Ed.), Behavior control and modification of physiological activity. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1976.
Eysenck, H. J. The measurement of emotion: Psychological parameters and methods. In L. Levi (Ed.), Emotions—Their parameters and measurement. New York: Raven Press, 1975.
University of Iowa (Producer). Fluid image. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1965. (Film)
Green, E., Green, A., & Walters, E. Voluntary control of internal states: Psychological and physiological. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1970, 1, 1–26.
Kelly, D., Brown, C. C., & Shaffer, J. W. A comparison of physiological and psychological measurements on anxious patients and normal controls. Psychophysiology, 1970, 6, 429–441.
Lacey, J. I. Individual difference in somatic response patterns. Journal of Comparative Physiological Psychology, 1950, 43, 338–350.
Lang, R. J. The application of psychophysiological methods to the study of psychotherapy and behavior. In A. E. Bergin & S. L. Garfield (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change. New York: Wiley, 1971.
Leboeuf, A. The effects of EMG feedback training on state anxiety in introverts and extraverts. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1977, 33, 251–253.
Levitt, E. E. The psychology of anxiety. New York: Bobbs Merrill, 1967.
Martin, B. The assessment of anxiety by physiological behavioral measures. Psychological Bulletin, 1961, 58, 234–255.
Rachman, S. The role of muscular relaxation in desensitization therapy. Behavior Research and Therapy, 1968,6,159-166.
Schachter, J. Pain, fear, and anger in hypertensives and normotensives. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1957, 19, 17–29.
Spielberger, C. D. Anxiety as an emotional state. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed.), Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research. New York: Academic Press, 1972.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., & Lushene, R. E. STAI manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (“self-evaluation questionnaire”). Palo Alto, Calif: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1970.
Wenger, M. A. Pattern analysis of autonomic variables during rest. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1957, 19, 240–244.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crabbs, M.A., Hopper, G. The relationship between cognitive and somatic measures in the assessment of anxiety. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 15, 218–220 (1980). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334513
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334513