A - 143 Factor Structure of the Beck Anxiety Inventory in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract

The Beck Anxiety Inventory-II (BAI) is a widely used screening instrument for anxiety symptoms in clinical and medical populations. The factor structure of the BAI remains unknown for people with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), despite common anxiety symptoms in this group. This study compared one, two, and four-factor models of the BAI in an mTBI sample. A sample of 141 individuals diagnosed with an mTBI were evaluated. All subjects were administered the BAI screening measure during a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation in a private practice setting. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test whether items loaded on a single anxiety factor, a two-factor structure with a somatic-affective and cognitive component of anxiety (based on original BAI), or a four-factor structure derived from studies in other populations with cognitive impairments. The sample was predominantly female (63%), with a mean age of 46.93 (SD = 13.28) and a mean education level of 15.08 (SD = 2.65). Consistent with prior literature, 69% of our sample reported at least mild symptoms of anxiety (BAI > 8). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results indicated the best fit was the model with four factors consisting of cognitive, autonomic, neuromotor, and panic symptoms, CFI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.067, 90% CI (0.053,0.081). These results suggest that instead of the two-factor model posited by original creators of the BAI, clinicians and researchers should attend to four clusters of anxiety symptoms in mTBI populations. Anxiety symptoms following mTBI can be evaluated based on cognitive, autonomic, neuromotor, and panic components.