State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2™ (STAXI-2™)

C.D. Spielberger, Ph.D., ABPP

The STAXI-2™ provides easily administered and objectively scored measures of the experience, expression, and control of anger for adults and adolescents, ages 16 years and older. The STAXI-2 was developed to assess components of anger and anger expression and to measure the way these components of anger contribute to medical conditions such as hypertension and coronary heart disease. Recent studies on the nature of anger and its effects on mental and physical health guided the development of the STAXI-2. To investigate the effects of anger on mental and physical disorders, the experience of anger must be clearly distinguished from anger expression and control.

The 57-item STAXI-2 consists of six scales, five subscales, and an Anger Expression Index that provides an overall measure of total anger expression. The STAXI-2 scales and subscales are listed below:

STAXI-2 Scales and Subscales:

• Angry Temperament

• Angry Reaction

• Anger Expression-Out

• Anger Expression-In

• Anger Control-Out

• Anger Control-In

• Anger Expression Index

The STAXI-2 State Anger scale assesses the intensity of anger as an emotional state at a particular time. The Trait Anger scale measures how often angry feelings are experienced over time. The Anger Expression and Anger Control scales assess four relatively independent anger-related traits: (a) expression of anger toward other persons or objects in the environment (Anger Expression-Out); (b) holding in or suppressing angry feelings (Anger Expression-In); (c) controlling angry feelings by preventing the expression of anger toward other persons or objects in the environment (Anger Control-Out); and (d) controlling suppressed angry feelings by calming down or cooling off (Anger Control-In).

A 6th-grade reading ability is generally required to complete the STAXI-2. Individuals rate themselves on 4-point scales that assess both the intensity of their anger at a particular time and the frequency that anger is experienced, expressed, and controlled. The normative sample for the STAXI-2 included more than 1,900 individuals (1,644 normal adults, 276 hospitalized psychiatric patients). Normative tables provide raw score-to-percentile and raw score-to-T-score conversions for STAXI-2 scale and subscale scores for the total normative sample, as well as by gender for three age groups: 16-19 years, 20-29 years, and 30 years and older. The STAXI-2 can be administered and scored by individuals with limited training. Interpretation requires professional training in psychology, psychiatry, or educational testing.

The STAXI-2 materials include the professional manual, re-usable item booklets, carbonless self-rating sheets, and profile forms.

The manual provides directions for administration and scoring, information on the construction and development of the STAXI/ STAXI-2, guidelines for interpretation, validation studies, a summary of current research, and an extensive Bibliography. A profile form for graphing percentiles or T scores facilitates the interpretation of individual patterns in scale and subscale scores.