State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
psychological inventory
The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a psychological inventory consisting of 40 self-report items on a 4-point Likert scale. The STAI measures two types of anxiety – state anxiety and trait anxiety. Higher scores are positively correlated with higher levels of anxiety. Its most current revision is Form Y and it is offered in more than 40 languages.
The STAI was developed by psychologists Charles Spielberger, R.L. Gorsuch, and R.E. Lushene. Their goal in creating the inventory was to create a set of questions that could be applied towards differentiating between the temporary condition of "state anxiety" and the more general and long-standing quality of "trait anxiety." This was a new development because all other questionnaires focused on one type of anxiety at the time.
Spielberger also created other self-report state-trait scales purported to measure various other emotions and dispositions. These include the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS) and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). Alternate forms of the STAI have been developed, including a short-form version (STAI-6) as well as a child form, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC).
The STAI requires a sixth grade reading level.
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