Latent structure of anxiety: taxometric exploration.
Taxometrics is a statistical tool that can be used to discern categories from continua. Taxometric analyses (MAXCOV and MAXEIG) were conducted in a large nonclinical sample (N=1,215) to determine whether extreme anxiety forms a distinct psychopathological category, an anxiety taxon. Anxiety was operationalized with self-report measures of subjective anxiety, anxious cognitive style, physiological arousal, and anxiety-related impairment. Procedures consistently identified a taxon with a prevalence of approximately 11%. Examination of the taxon's convergent and discriminant validity revealed that it reflects general distress rather than physiological arousal. Taxon membership showed some evidence of incremental validity.
Kotov
Roman
R
Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Schmidt
Norman B
NB
Lerew
Darin R
DR
Joiner
Thomas E
TE
Ialongo
Nicholas S
NS
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology