Construction and psychometric characteristics of two self-report questionnaires for the assessment of fear of flying.

Abstract

This article presents the development of and data on the dimensional structure, reliability, and validity of 2 new inventories for assessing different aspects of fear of flying: the Flight Anxiety Situations questionnaire (FAS), which assesses anxiety related to flying experienced in different situations, and the Flight Anxiety Modality questionnaire (FAM), which measures symptom modalities in which anxiety in flight situations is expressed. Two initial questionnaires were constructed from multiple sources. Factor analytic studies were conducted to assess their internal structure, and the final versions were examined in a sample of 746 patients who experienced fear of flying. A principal-components analysis investigated the optimal dimensional structure in 2 randomly created subsamples. A 3-factor solution for the FAS and a 2-factor solution for the FAM Were revealed. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were good to excellent. Moderately strong correlations between the subscales suggest sufficient factorial specificity and convergent validity. The subscales were sensitive to change.