title: Psychometric properties of the Affect Phobia Test.
abstract: The aim of this study was to make the first evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Affect Phobia Test, using the Swedish translation - a test developed to screen the ability to experience, express and regulate emotions. Data was collected from a clinical sample (N = 82) of patients with depression and/or anxiety participating in randomized controlled trial of Internet-based affect-focused treatment, and a university student sample (N = 197). The internal consistency for the total score was satisfactory (Clinical sample α = 0.88/Student sample α = 0.84) as well as for all the affective domains, except Anger/Assertion (α = 0.44/0.36), Sadness/Grief (α = 0.24/0.46) and Attachment/Closeness (α = 0.67/0.69). Test retest reliability was satisfactory (ICC > 0.77) for the total score and for all the affective domains except for Sadness/Grief (ICC = 0.04). The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a six-factor solution and did only moderately match the test's original affective domains. An empirical cut-off between the clinical and the university student sample were calculated and yielded a cut-off of 72 points. As expected, the Affect Phobia test showed negative significant correlations in the clinical group with measures on depression (rxy  = -0.229; p < 0.01) and anxiety (rxy  = -0.315; p < 0.05). The conclusion is that the psychometric properties are satisfactory for the total score of the Affect Phobia Test but not for some of the test's affective domains. Consequently the domains should not be used as subscales. The test can discriminate between individuals who seek help for psychological problems and those who do not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Stockholm Center for Dependency Disorders, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: My
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4620-8985
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frankl
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Stockholm Center for Dependency Disorders, Stockholm, Sweden.|Center for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Philips
authors.affiliation: Modum Bad Psychiatric Center, Research Institute, Vikersund, Norway.
authors.forename: Lene
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berggraf
authors.affiliation: Modum Bad Psychiatric Center, Research Institute, Vikersund, Norway.
authors.forename: Pål
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ulvenes
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.affiliation: Center for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wennberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Screening; affect theory; affects; emotion regulation; emotional avoidance