Psychometric Analyses of the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale–Adult Version among Young and Middle-Aged Adults

Abstract

Responses of 871 adults to the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale–Adult version (AMAS-A) were factor analyzed using the method of principal axis factoring with promax rotation. Factor analysis yielded a four-factor solution: three anxiety factors (Worry/Oversensitivity, Stress, and Physiological Anxiety) and a Lie factor. The AMAS-A’s three factor structure of anxiety is consistent with multidimensional theories of anxiety and lends support to the validity of the interpretation of the AMAS-A scores as reflecting anxiety in several dimensions. Temporal stability and convergent and discriminant validity of the AMAS-A test scores were also examined in a sample of 76 young and middleaged adults. Results indicated good to excellent test-retest reliability for the AMAS-A scores over a 2- to 3-week interval. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of the AMAS-Ascores as measures of various aspects of anxietywas found. Implications of the findings are discussed.