Adaptation and psychometric properties of the Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire for Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Objective The present study aimed to adapt the Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire and analyze its psychometric properties for the Brazilian population. Method The adaptation was conducted in six stages: translation, synthesis, back translation, expert analysis, evaluation by the target population, and a pilot study. A total of 441 adults (M = 35.36; SD = 11.08 years) were interviewed, with 301 classified as healthy, 105 as having anxiety, and 35 as having depression. Results The Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire results demonstrated evidence of content validity, exhibiting high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.975 and McDonald’s omega = 0.976). Moreover, the questionnaire showed evidence of criterion validity by effectively distinguishing between groups with and without anxiety (F(2.438) = 22.647; p < 0.01), as well as convergent validity with the structured clinical interview for DSM-5 (ρ = 0.70, p < 0.01), and correlations with anxiety (ρ = 0.62, p < 0.01), depression (ρ = 0.64, p < 0.01), and stress (ρ = 0.70, p < 0.01) scores from another instrument. Conclusion The Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire is valid and reliable for use by healthcare professionals in the Brazilian population.

Keywords

• Anxiety
• Evaluation
• Psychopathology
• Test reliability
• Test validity