The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a psychological inventory based on a 4-point Likert scale

Likert scale

A Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires. It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, such that the term is often used interchangeably with rating scale, or more accurately the Likert-type scale, even though...

. The STAI measures two types of anxiety-state anxiety, or anxiety about an event, and trait anxiety. Higher scores are positively correlated with higher levels of anxiety. Its most current revision is Form Y.

Scoring

Scores range from 20 to 80, with higher scores correlating with greater anxiety. This differs from the Beck Depression Inventory

Beck Depression Inventory

The Beck Depression Inventory , created by Dr. Aaron T. Beck, is a 21-question multiple-choice self-report inventory, one of the most widely used instruments for measuring the severity of depression...

(BDI) due to its differentiation of anxiety from depression.

History

The STAI was first published in 1970 by Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R.L., and Lushene. R.E. It underwent revision to its current form in 1983.