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Development of the Response to Fearful Situations Scale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2020

Katherine A. McDermott Open the ORCID record for Katherine A. McDermott [Opens in a new window] ,
Kristin Fitch ,
Kirsten H. Dillon ,
Nora E. Mueller ,
Corinne N. Carlton ,
Norman B. Schmidt  and
Jesse R. Cougle
Katherine A. McDermott
Affiliation:
Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL32304, USA
Kristin Fitch
Affiliation:
OCD Institute of Greater New Orleans, 315 Metairie Road, Suite 200, Metairie, LA70005, USA
Kirsten H. Dillon
Affiliation:
Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 508 Fulton Street, Durham, NC27705, USA
Nora E. Mueller
Affiliation:
Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL32304, USA
Corinne N. Carlton
Affiliation:
Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL32304, USA
Norman B. Schmidt
Affiliation:
Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL32304, USA
Jesse R. Cougle*
Affiliation:
Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL32304, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: cougle@psy.fsu.edu
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Abstract

Background:

Most measures of anxious avoidance are limited to disorder-specific mechanisms and ignore the measurement of courage/approach responding in confronting fearful situations.

Aims:

The purpose of the present study was to construct and validate a self-report assessment of the tendency towards avoidant or approach responding in fearful situations, the Response to Fearful Situations Scale (RFSS).

Method and Results:

In Study 1 (n = 241), exploratory factor analysis resulted in two factors, avoidance and approach. Study 2 (n = 423) replicated the two-factor structure and established test–re-test reliability. In Study 3 (n = 44), the RFSS demonstrated predictive validity on a behavioural avoidance task. In Studies 4 (n = 253) and 5 (n = 256), the RFSS was associated with clinical symptoms above existing measures of avoidance.

Discussion:

These results validate the use of the RFSS as a transdiagnostic measure of avoidance and approach.

Keywords

anxietyapproachsituational avoidancetransdiagnostic
Type
Main
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 48 , Issue 6 , November 2020 , pp. 688 - 704
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020

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