WHAT DO ANXIETY SCALES MEASURE

At present researchers appear to rely on instruments for the assessmen t of anxiety without due consideration of what it is that the instrume nt may be presumed to measure. A survey was undertaken of the presentl y most frequently used rating scales which purport to assess anxiety. The allocation of items of the scales to the major aspects of anxiety was examined. It was found that the scales tapped different areas of p sychopathology. Furtherance of research requires closer attention to t he nature of the scales and the assumption that they all measure much the same construct must be discarded.