Artículo
Adaptación para Buenos Aires de la escala de intolerancia a la incertidumbre
Adaptation to Buenos Aires of the intolerance of uncertainty scale
Registro en:
0325-8203 (impreso)
1668-7027 (en línea)
Autor
Rodríguez de Behrends, Marisa
Brenlla, María Elena
Institución
Resumen
Resumen: Este artículo informa la adaptación lingüística
y el análisis de las propiedades psicométricas de
la Escala de Intolerancia a la Incertidumbre (EII)
en población de Buenos Aires. La EII evalúa la intolerancia
a la incertidumbre (II) que es uno de los
componentes principales del trastorno de ansiedad
generalizada (TAG) según el modelo teórico
de Dugas. La intolerancia a la incertidumbre se
define como una disposición ca racterística que
re sulta de un conjunto de pensamientos negativos
sobre la incertidumbre. La Escala de Intolerancia
a la Incertidumbre (EII) está compuesta por 27 ítemes
que se responden con un formato tipo Likert
de cinco opciones de respuesta. Se analizaron los
datos obtenidos de una muestra de 320 participantes,
residentes de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos
Aires y el Gran Buenos Aires (República Argentina).
Se obtuvieron correlaciones significativas
con medidas criterio de preocupación
(r = .44; p = .000) y ansiedad como estado (r = .36;
p = .000) y como rasgo (r = .58; p = .000). Se estudió
la estructura de la escala con el análisis de
componentes principales y se obtuvieron dos factores
que explican el 41.07% de la variancia total.
Con respecto a la fiabilidad, los resultados indican
una excelente consistencia interna de los ítemes
igual a .93 y una estabilidad test-retest luego
de cinco semanas, igual a .47. No se registraron diferencias
significativas en las puntuaciones de la
escala según la edad y el sexo. En su conjunto, los
resultados obtenidos en la investigación realizada
son concordantes con los hallazgos de investigaciones
anteriores. Dado que la II constituye un factor
de vulnerabilidad para el TAG, es de utilidad
contar con un cuestionario adaptado a la población
local. Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to report as regards
the linguistic and cultural adaptation and psycho -
metric properties of the Intolerance of Uncertainty
Scale (IUS, for its acronyms in English) in the
adult population of Buenos Aires (Republica
Argentina). The IUS assesses the intolerance of
uncertainty (IU), which is one of the principal
components of the generalized anxiety disorder
(GAD) according to the theoretical model of
Dugas. IU has been defined as a dispositional
characteristic that results from a set of negative
beliefs about uncertainty and it has been proposed
as a cognitive vulnerability factor for worry and
GAD. Furthermore it may be defined more
specifically as the excessive tendency of an
individual to consider it unacceptable that a
negative event may occur, however small the
probability of its occurrence. In general, in toler -
ance of uncertainty may be conceptualized as the
way an individual perceives information in un -
certain situations and responds to said information
with a set of emotional, cognitive and behavioral
responses. The IUS is composed of 27 items
related to the idea that uncertainty is unacceptable,
leads to frustration and the inability to take action
and it reflected badly on a person. Participants rate
items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1:
not at all characteristic of me to 5: entirely
characteristic of me. Higher scores on the IUS
indicate greater intolerance of uncertainty. The
original French version of the IUS was developed
in 1994 to assess emotional, cognitive, and
behavioral reactions to ambiguous situations, im -
plications of being uncertain, and attempts to
control the future. In 2002, the IUS was translated
from French to English. Similar to the original
French measure, the English translation had shown
excellent internal consistency and temporal stabil -
ity. It has demonstrated convergent, criterial, and
discriminant validity. On this study, the IUS
translated into Spanish by three independent
translators. The content validity was assessed
through the use of three independent judges who
had broad knowledge of anxiety disorder. The
preliminary version was tested with a sample of
90 participants. The research was a descriptive and
correlational study, with a transversal design The
participants completed the following question -
naires: the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II),
the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and
the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data
obtained from a sample of 320 participants (168
females and 152 males) of the Ciudad and
Provincia de Buenos Aires has been analyzed.
Data analysis was conducted using Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) - Version
22 software. In relation to the evidence of validity,
significant correlations were obtained with worry
(r = .44; p = .000) and anxiety as a state (r = .36;
p = .000) and trait (r = .58; p = .000). The explor -
atory data analysis regarding the factor structure
of the scale and dimensions of the construct
indicated two factors that explain 41.07 % of the
total variance. On the one hand, concerning the
consistency of this scale, the results show an
excellent internal consistency (.93) and a fairly
strong test-retest reliability over a five-week
period of .47. On the other hand, significant differ -
ences were not registered in the punctuations of
the scale according to age and sex, and these
findings are consistent with previous research. As
a whole, the results obtained from the present
investigation are consistent with the findings of
previous investigations. Given that the IU consti -
tutes a factor of vulnerability for the TAG, it is
useful to rely on a questionnaire adapted to the
local population. To conclude, the present study
has demonstrated the sound psychometric proper -
ties of the Spanish version of the IUS.