Psychometric properties of the Affect Phobia Test

My Frankl, Björn Philips, Lene Berggraf, Pål Ulvenes, Robert Johansson, Peter Wennberg

The aim of this study was to make the first evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Affect Phobia Test, using the Swedish translation - a test developed to screen the ability to experience, express and regulate emotions. Data was collected from a clinical sample (N = 82) of patients with depression and/or anxiety participating in randomized controlled trial of Internet-based affect-focused treatment, and a university student sample (N = 197). The internal consistency for the total score was satisfactory (Clinical sample α = 0.88/Student sample α = 0.84) as well as for all the affective domains, except Anger/Assertion (α = 0.44/0.36), Sadness/Grief (α = 0.24/0.46) and Attachment/Closeness (α = 0.67/0.69). Test retest reliability was satisfactory (ICC > 0.77) for the total score and for all the affective domains except for Sadness/Grief (ICC = 0.04). The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a six-factor solution and did only moderately match the test's original affective domains. An empirical cut-off between the clinical and the university student sample were calculated and yielded a cut-off of 72 points. As expected, the Affect Phobia test showed negative significant correlations in the clinical group with measures on depression (rxy  = -0.229; p < 0.01) and anxiety (rxy  = -0.315; p < 0.05). The conclusion is that the psychometric properties are satisfactory for the total score of the Affect Phobia Test but not for some of the test's affective domains. Consequently the domains should not be used as subscales. The test can discriminate between individuals who seek help for psychological problems and those who do not.