To Construction and Standardization of the Waiting Anxiety Questionnaire (WAQ) in Iran

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire to measure waiting anxiety. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study. Extensive review of literature and expert opinions were used to develop and validate the waiting anxiety questionnaire. A sample of 321 participants was recruited through random cluster sampling (n= 190 Iranian men and n= 131 women). The participants filled out WAQ, the Speilberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Burtner Rating scale (BRS) and Eysenk Personality questionnaire (EPQ) for adults. RESULTS Internal consistency of WAQ was revealed, meaning that all the 20 items were highly correlated with the total score. The Cronbach alpha equaled 0.83 for the Waiting Anxiety Questionnaire. The Pearson correlation coefficient of the questionnaire with the STAI, BRS and extraversion and neuroticism subscales of EPQ was 0.65, 0.78, - 0.47 and 0.43, respectively, which confirmed its convergent and divergent validity. Factors analysis extracting four cognitive, behavioral, sentimental and physiological factors could explain 67% of the total variance with an Eigen value of greater than 1. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that WAQ possesses appropriate validity and reliability to measure the individuals' anxiety during the waiting time.