Common Approaches to the Measurement of Anxiety

Most indexes of anxiety are based on one of four principal techniques; projective estimates, self reports, objective ratings by other persons, and objective behavioral indexes. The author measured 24 adolescents on all four techniques over a three-week period and correlated the results. No correlation approached statistical significance, suggesting that the four techniques do not reflect equivalent measures of anxiety. These results may help to explain the typically poor agreement among studies of anxiety.