The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) is widely used within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), both as an assessment tool and as a part of measurement-based care practices. However, there is preliminary evidence that the BAI may perform uniquely in veteran samples, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive investigation of the BAI in this population. The present study compared the normative data reported by Beck and Steer (1993) to secondary data generated by a nationwide sample of U.S. military veterans receiving treatment through the VHA. Secondary data, including initial BAI scores, demographic characteristics, treatment location, and diagnoses originally recorded during the course of usual VHA care over a 5-year period for 57,088 individual veterans, were extracted through the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure. BAI scores were compared across samples and various veteran subgroups. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were also conducted. Results revealed that the BAI performed similarly across veteran and normative samples. Male and older veterans were found to have lower BAI scores than their respective counterparts. Factor analyses indicated that a three-factor model best fit the veteran data. Additionally, a cut score of 18 best differentiated between veterans with and without anxiety and related disorders. This study helps support the use of the BAI as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing anxiety symptoms in veterans. Additional research is recommended to better guide BAI interpretation across age groups and sexes/genders.
The present study investigated racial-ethnic differences in social anxiety among college students in two-year colleges.
There is increasing evidence of specific medical and psychological benefits associated with humor within diabetes populations. The benefits of maintaining good diabetes control are also well established. The more general relationship between humor and diabetes control however remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was to examine if there was a difference between people with diabetes with an A1C ≤ 6.99% versus those ≥7.0% on four disparate types of humor. The sample consisted of 284 participants, 65.5% with type 1 diabetes, 68.3% female, 89.1% Caucasian, and 68.7% college educated. Participants completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and were divided into two groups, A1C ≤ 6.99% and A1C ≥ 7.0%. The A1C ≤ 6.99% group scored significantly higher on both types of positive humor, affiliative humor (P < 0.01) and self-enhancing humor (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between participants on either type of negative humor, aggressive humor (P > 0.05) or self-defeating humor (P > 0.05). Results indicate that good control (A1C ≤ 6.99%) is associated with positive humor. These findings provide evidence that there is an association between American Diabetes Association recommended levels of control and positive humor styles. Implications regarding positive humor and good diabetes control are discussed.
The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is used within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to measure depression symptom severity. This naturalistic study aimed to examine VHA-specific BDI-II use and establish normative data and psychometric properties. Initial BDI-II data for 152,260 individual veterans were extracted from preexisting medical records using the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure. BDI-II scores were compared against Beck, Steer, and Brown (1996)’s original sample, as well as across veteran subgroups. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were also conducted. Similar to Beck et al.’s (1996) sample, the BDI-II was most frequently administered in outpatient psychiatric VHA settings, although it was also used in inpatient and medical settings. Veterans scored significantly higher on the BDI-II than the original comparison groups. This was true across diagnostic categories. The largest discrepancy was seen between nondepressed veterans and corresponding patients from the original sample (Cohen’s d = 1.34). Older veterans endorsed less severe levels of depression symptomatology. Additionally, a 2-factor model similar to Beck et al.’s (1996) original solution provided the best fit to the data. Veterans reported higher levels of somatic-affective symptoms than cognitive symptoms. Although potentially useful, the BDI-II requires further investigation in veterans. Standard cut scores are not recommended for use in this population when evaluating severity of depression. A cut score of 27 or higher best differentiated between veterans with and without mood disorders in the current sample. Treatment providers should also consider using BDI-II factor scores, rather than the total score, to measure depressive symptom change.
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