Abstract
Screening tools play an important role in treatment of anxiety and are used both to identify and monitor symptoms of the disorder. In research they are often used to measure efficacy of treatment. Reliability of these screening tools is therefore highly important. The most prominent screening tool for anxiety today is the GAD-7. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the GAD-7, using methods of IRT, on a clinical sample of mental health patients. The sample consisted of 226 individuals that had sought help for anxiety and/or depression symptoms. Results indicted four main issues with the scale for the clinical population, a) reliability was contingent on anxiety level, b) items 5, 6 and 7 contribute minimal information to the total measure, c) the summation score is not intuitive and d) the response categories are flawed. It is concluded, that for further use, the scale needs some revisions.
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