Psychometric Properties of the Worry Behaviors Inventory: Replication and Extension in a Large Clinical and Community Sample

Abstract

The WBI provides clinicians and researchers with a brief, clinically meaningful index of problematic behaviors that may guide treatment decisions and contribute to our understanding of maintaining factors in GAD.

Maladaptive Behaviours Associated with Generalized Anxiety Disorder: An Item Response Theory Analysis

“…The current study undertook an IRT analysis of the WBI and provides important additional information about the quality and reliability of the WBI items. As predicted, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the WBI supported the twofactor structure found in previous studies (Mahoney et al, 2016(Mahoney et al, , 2018. Indeed, the two-factor structure provided a closer fit to the current data than previous data.…”

“…Evidence of internal consistency (total α = .86, Safety Behaviors subscale α = .85, Avoidance subscale α = .75), temporal stability (total r = .89, Safety Behaviors subscale r = .89, Avoidance subscale r = .74 over 2-4 weeks) and validity (e.g. convergent/divergent, discriminant, and incremental validity) has been provided (Mahoney et al, 2016(Mahoney et al, , 2018. Internal consistency in the current sample was total α = .86, Safety Behaviors subscale α = .85, Avoidance subscale α = .74.…”

“…Given the diagnostic, theoretical and clinical importance of understanding and measuring maladaptive behaviours associated with GAD, this study conducted an IRT analysis of the WBI in a sample of adults commencing treatment for their symptoms of GAD. We hypothesized that the two-factor structure of the scale would be replicated and that both scales would be significantly related to symptoms of GAD and major depressive disorder (MDD), as has been found in prior evaluations (Mahoney et al, 2016(Mahoney et al, , 2018. However, as previous research has found that the WBI subscales demonstrate differential associations with measures of anxiety and depression, we examined the scales individually and sought to identify the most discriminating items from the Safety Behaviors and Avoidance subscales, as well as provide indices of the overall functioning of the Safety Behaviors and Avoidance scales.…”

The Mediating Relationship Between Maladaptive Behaviours, Cognitive Factors, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

“…The limited amount of study in this area may in part relate to the lack of a validated measure of maladaptive behaviours associated with GAD. Such a measure has recently been developed and evaluated in treatment-seeking samples (the Worry Behaviours Inventory; Mahoney et al, 2016Mahoney et al, , 2018a). In the current sample, we found that the two-factor structure of the WBI was confirmed, with both factors demonstrating satisfactory internal stability.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that two factors explain the co-occurrence of these maladaptive behaviours: Safety Behaviours and Avoidance. Evidence of internal consistency (total α = .86; Safety Behaviours subscale α = .85; Avoidance subscale α = .75), temporal stability (total r = .89; Safety Behaviours subscale r = .89; Avoidance subscale r = .74 over 2-4 weeks) and validity (e.g., convergent/divergent, discriminant, and incremental validity) has been demonstrated in treatment-seeking samples (Mahoney et al, 2016(Mahoney et al, , 2018a. Current internal consistency is reported below.…”