Definition
Anxiety is the persistent expectation of a real or imagined threat. It is characterized by muscle tension and hypervigilance and may include cautious or avoidant behaviors. The thoughts and emotions that accompany anxiety are often viewed as excessive and outside of the developmental norm (American Psychiatric Association 2013). The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) is a measure used to assess severity of anxiety (Beck and Steer 1993).
Introduction
The BAI is a 21-item self-report instrument designed as a screening tool, in which patients rate their experience of the severity of each symptom of anxiety. It is a widely used instrument that has been translated into a variety of languages (Steer et al. 1993). Patients are instructed to focus their answers on the last week, including the day of administration. Respondents rank symptoms on a Likert scale with the anchors of 0 (Not at All) to 3 (Severe). Examples of items found on the BAI include “Fear of the Worst Happening,”...
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Palmer, G.A., Dahlstrom, A., Kingwell, A., Van Sickle, J. (2017). Beck Anxiety Inventory. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_5-1
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