Anxiety disorders and psychological evaluation: Instruments used in Brazil

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are characterized by fear and anxiety disproportionate to the situation that triggers and persists beyond what is foreseen for the event. They cause harm to the individual due to the suffering produced, worsen the quality of life and impose social restrictions. Psychological assessment techniques can help an investigation and improve understanding of these disorders. This study aimed to investigate the instruments for anxiety assessment used in Brazil. Thus, a literature review was carried out, searching specialized textbooks, journals and indexed articles (in capes, lilacs, pubmed, mediline, scielo and academic Google) in order to describe the most used ones. At the end of this study, it was found that the instruments for assessing anxiety disorders can be divided into seven categories: The first includes instruments that assess anxiety as a global construct; the second evaluates psychiatric disorders; the third comprises instruments that assess specific anxiety disorders, taking into account symptomatic behaviors and thoughts or feelings; the fourth category covers instruments related to specific contexts, such as hospital or sports; the fifth category includes instruments for assessing specific characteristics related to anxiety, such as concern, irritability, among others; the sixth category, covers instruments for mental health assessment in general as complaints related to anxiety seen as screening and need for psychiatric care and; finally, the seventh category comprises the other instruments that did not fall into the previous categories. It was also verified that the most used tests in Brazil from 2000 to 2015 were: Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); State Trait Anxiety Inventory (IDATE); Hamilton Anxiety Scale; Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). These instruments are adaptations of international instruments for use in Brazil.