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Assessing Anxious Self-Talk in Youth: The Negative Affectivity Self-Statement Questionnaire–Anxiety Scale

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Abstract

Investigated the development and utility of the Negative Affectivity Self-Statement Questionnaire—Anxiety Scale (NASSQ-A) for youth. Participants in the initial anxiety-disordered (AD) sample were 68 children with a principal diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or social phobia (SP), and participants in the non anxiety-disordered (NAD) sample were 37 children with no anxiety or mood disorder. Findings were then cross-validated on an additional sample of 138 children with a principal diagnosis of GAD or SP. Thirty-three negative self-statements were found to separate anxious from non-anxious participants, and were combined to form the NASSQ-A. Using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses, a NASSQ-A cutoff score of 49 was determined to be optimal for identifying anxiety-disordered youth. Findings are discussed with regard to the assessment of self-talk in anxiety disorders.

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Notes

  1. t(123.36) = 9.98, p < .001, d = 1.80

  2. F(1, 128) = 1.21, ns

  3. F(1, 128) = 1.06, ns

  4. F(1, 128) = 3.29, ns

  5. F(1, 128) = .09, ns

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  1. Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th St, Weiss Hall, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Erica D. Sood & Philip C. Kendall

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  1. Erica D. Sood
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  2. Philip C. Kendall
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Correspondence to Erica D. Sood.

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Sood, E.D., Kendall, P.C. Assessing Anxious Self-Talk in Youth: The Negative Affectivity Self-Statement Questionnaire–Anxiety Scale. Cogn Ther Res 31, 603–618 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-006-9043-8

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