The Canine Frustration Questionnaire—Development of a New Psychometric Tool for Measuring Frustration in Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris)

Abstract

Introduction: Psychometric tools have been developed for the assessment of behavioral and affective traits in non-human animals. Frustration can be defined as an emotional reaction experienced after a given expectation is violated. Frustration is a negative emotional state and whilst it probably plays a key role in certain behavior problems in dogs (e.g., aggressive behaviors), there appears to have been little attempt to scale this affective tendency. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to develop a tool to assess frustration tendencies in dogs. Materials and Methods: An online owner survey was developed. Items covered demographics, the training/behavioral history of the dog, and 33 frustration related items scored using a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was disseminated via on-line channels over a 5-month period. Two thousand three hundred forty-eight respondents completed the questionnaire. Of these, 273 respondents completed it a second time 6 weeks later, and a separate 276 respondents completed it a second time 1 year later. Additionally, 92 paired responses were collected where two carers completed the questionnaire independently about the same dog. Intra- and inter-rater reliabilities were assessed prior to structuring the items using principal component analysis (PCA) with a Varimax rotation. Items were retained if they loaded > 0.4 on at least one of the components extracted using the Kaiser criterion. Results: Twenty-two items were deemed to be reliable enough to be used in the PCA and 21 items loaded on a biologically meaningful 5-principal component solution. There was a significant positive correlation between each principal component and the owners' general perception of their dogs' frustration tendencies, alongside other expected correlates. Conclusion: This is the first reliable psychometric tool for the assessment of frustration in dogs—the Canine Frustration Questionnaire (CFQ). Further validation with behavioral tests and physiological measures is ongoing.

Differences in facial expressions during positive anticipation and frustration in dogs awaiting a reward

“…As no validated measures of positive anticipation and frustration in dogs are available yet, the assumption of the underlying emotional state is based on criteria provided by the literature (e.g. 4,6,45,46,48,49 ), specifying contextual features of situations in which the putative states of positive anticipation and frustration are induced. Two ear actions were found to differ between the two conditions, with activity in the “Ears adductor” (EAD102) being more common in the positive and “Ears flattener” (EAD103) in the negative condition.…”

“…Frustration is an aversive emotional state 36,45 that can arise in a range of situations (see 46 ), such as when an expected reward is absent, delayed 45 , reduced in value (reviewed in 47 ), or inaccessible due to barriers 4 , which can be of a physical or social nature. Frustration is closely linked to the emotional state of positive anticipation, which is assumed to arise when a reward is expected 48–50 .…”

Developing Diagnostic Frameworks in Veterinary Behavioral Medicine: Disambiguating Separation Related Problems in Dogs

“…of the components (PC1-exit frustration, PC4-redirected frustration and PC6-immediate frustration) seem to relate to frustration, explaining 24% of the total variance in the presenting complaint, with a potential fourth component as well (PC5reactive communication), explaining a further 6%. The latter included barking vs. more friendly greetings toward visitors and more widespread reactivity to those intruding into the dog's personal space [recognized as a trigger of frustration or Rage sensu Panksepp (64)], and so might reflect a form of frustration intolerance by the dog (71). This interpretation is perhaps more equivocal and it might be argued that it instead reflects a more general sociability or reactivity.…”

Development and Psychometric Validation of the Lincoln Canine Anxiety Scale

“…correlational evidence, which is often presented in association with factor analysis of the items making up the scale (concurrent validity); and evidence for the ability of the instrument to discriminate between different groups (predictive validity) (11). To date, there are very few validated clinical scales relating to behavior problems in dogs (12)(13)(14), and there is no validated general scale to assess the severity of their anxiety, fear, or related state. Therefore, we aimed to develop and validate a scale to assess canine anxiety.…”