Confirmatory factor analysis of the Dutch Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale: Comparison of the full and short version

K. Helsen*, E. van den Bussche, J.W.S. Vlaeyen, L. Goubert

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background and objectives: The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS) was developed for assessing reactions to ambiguous situations, uncertainty, and future events. The IUS has been validated in different languages, but equivocal factor structures, in combination with highly interrelated items and factors, resulted in a redundancy of the items of the English version. In the current study, the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the IUS were examined, and compared with the shortened 12-item version (IUS-12).

Methods: Confirmatory factor analyses were used to investigate different factor structures of both the full and short version of the IUS.

Results: Results indicated that the IUS-12 model with two factors (Prospective Anxiety and Inhibitory Anxiety) provides the best fit. The reduced measure has equally good internal consistency, and is highly correlated with the full version.

Limitations: Future research could investigate whether the current findings generalize to clinical populations.

Conclusion: To summarize, the usage of the short 12-item version of the IUS should be encouraged in future research concerning intolerance of uncertainty. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)21-29
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Volume44
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013

Keywords

  • Intolerance of uncertainty
  • Confirmatory factor analysis
  • Worry
  • GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER
  • STATE WORRY QUESTIONNAIRE
  • PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
  • TRAIT ANXIETY
  • VALIDATION
  • BELIEFS
  • THERAPY
  • MODEL
  • SPECIFICITY
  • INVENTORY

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