The Trait Anxiety and Depression Tests & Software

The Mehrabian Trait Anxiety and Depression scales are offered here primarily for student and academic researchers. If you wish to use the scales in clinical or commercial situations, it is strongly suggested that findings based on the present instruments be checked against additional data from alternative tests and interview materials.

Software for the Trait Anxiety and Depression Scales
Software for administering, scoring, and interpreting the Trait Anxiety and Depression Scales is available. It is a console (non-graphic) program and runs on IBM-compatible machines. The software may be useful even if you plan on group administering the paper and pencil version of the scales given in the test manual. In that case, you can use the software to input data from each participant and have the software compute total scores and z-scores for all participants.

The software provides (a) total score, equivalent z-score, equivalent percentile score, and interpretation of these scores for each person tested and (b) a database of scores for all individuals tested. Additionally, the software includes a feature for exporting a printable text file (.txt format) of the data.

The software is easy to use and is password protected so that the Administrator can control access to the database of results. In this way, individuals being tested cannot have access to the results, unless the Administrator chooses to report such results to them.

Definitions & Background
The two scales described here provide brief, though comprehensive, assessments of Depression and Trait Anxiety. Both scales are developed within the PAD Temperament Model (Mehrabian, 1987, 1991, 1996) and are designed to provide assessments of the corresponding traits across the entire range of normal as well as extreme and pathological manifestations of each trait. "Depression" is defined as a generalized individual emotional predisposition to be gloomy, sad, depressed, bored, and hopeless. "Trait Anxiety," on the other hand, is defined as a generalized individual emotional predisposition to be anxious, upset, distressed, tense, apprehensive, and distractible.

The Depression Scale contains 20 items and the Trait Anxiety scale contains 16 items. Subjects report the degree of accuracy-inaccuracy of various self-descriptive statements using a 9-point agreement-disagreement scale.

The Depression and Trait Anxiety scales are intended primarily for experimental use. In the event they are employed in clinical settings, it is strongly advised that findings based on the present instruments be checked against additional data from alternative tests and interview materials.

Sample Items
Test Features
Reliability & Validity Data
Alpha internal consistency coefficients, reported by Mehrabian (2001), were .92 for the Trait Anxiety Scale and .95 for the Depression Scale.

Convergent and construct validation data are reviewed in the manual (Mehrabian, 1994). Relevant validity data were first reported in Mehrabian (1995-96). Extensive reliability and validity data on both scales were reported in a book length monograph that cannot be made available here (Mehrabian, 2000). Relevant data also were reviewed by Mehrabian (2001, pp. 81-83).

Order Form for "Beyond IQ: Broad-based measurement of individual success potential or "emotional intelligence." Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126,133-239.
References:
Mehrabian, A. (1987). Eating characteristics and temperament: General measures and interrelationships. Springer-Verlag, New York.

Mehrabian, A. (1991). Outline of a general emotion-based theory of temperament. In J. Strelau and A. Angleitner (Eds.), Explorations in temperament: International perspectives on theory and measurement (pp. 75-86). Plenum Press, New York.

Mehrabian, A. (1994). Manual for the Mehrabian Trait Anxiety and Depression Scales. (Available from Albert Mehrabian, 1130 Alta Mesa Road, Monterey, CA, USA 93940).

Mehrabian, A. (1995). Relationships among three general approaches to personality description. Journal of Psychology, vol. 129, pp. 565-581.

Mehrabian, A. (1995-96). Distinguishing depression and trait anxiety in terms of basic dimensions of temperament. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, vol. 15, pp. 133-143.

Mehrabian, A. (1996). Pleasure-arousal-dominance: A general framework for describing and measuring individual differences in temperament. Current Psychology, vol. 14, 261-292.

Mehrabian, A. (1997). Comparison of the PAD and PANAS as models for describing emotions and for differentiating anxiety from depression. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 19, 331-357.

Mehrabian, A. (2000). Beyond IQ: Broad-based measurement of individual success potential or "emotional intelligence." Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126, 133-239.

Mehrabian, A. (2001). General relations among drug use, alcohol use, and major indexes of psychopathology. Journal of Psychology,135, 71-86.

Mehrabian, A., & Bernath, M.S. (1991). Factorial composition of commonly used self-report depression inventories: Relationships with basic dimensions of temperament. Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 25, pp. 262-275.

Mehrabian, A., & O'Reilly, E. (1980). Analysis of personality measures in terms of basic dimensions of temperament. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 38, pp. 492-503.

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