Psychometric properties of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) in college students

The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) in Spanish college students. The final sample was composed of a total of 588 participants (30.8% male) with a mean age of 20.3 years (SD = 2.7). The results showed that a high percentage of the sample reported symptoms of anxiety related to fatigue, worry, sadness, distress or nervousness. The STAI showed good psychometric properties. Cronbach's Alpha for the total score was 0.93. The analysis of the internal structure of the questionnaire by means of an exploratory structural equation modeling showed a possible three-dimensional or four-dimensional solution. Statistically significant differences were found in the mean scores of trait anxiety by gender and age. These results are similar to those found in previous literature, and indicate that the STAI is a brief and useful tool for the assessment of symptoms of anxiety.