Technical ~eport Documentation Page 

1. Report No. 2 . Government Accession No . 3. Recipient's Catalog No. 

FAA-AM-81-5 

4. Title and Subtitle 5 . Report Date 

METHODOLOGY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF STRESS AMONG AIR MARCH 1981 

TRAFFIC CONTROL 6. Performing Organization Code SPECIALISTS (ATCS): NORMATIVE ADULT 

DATA FOR THE STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY FROM NONATCS POPULATIONS 

f----::----:---:--:------------------------------l 8. Performing Organization Report No . 

7. Author/ s) 

GARY L. HUTTO, ROGER C. SMITH, AND RICHARD I. THACKRAY 

9 . Performing Organization Name and Address 

FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute 

P.O. Box 25082 

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73125 

10 . Work Unit No . (TRAIS) 

11 . Contract or Grant No. 

13. Type of Report and Period Covered 

~------------------------------------~ 

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 

Office of Aviation Medicine 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, S. W. 

Washington, D. C. 20591 

15. Supp lementary Notes 

14. Sponsoring Agency Code 

Work was performed under Tasks AM-C-79/80/81-PSY-72 and M1-C-81-PSY-84 

16. Abstract 

Previous FAA studies of psychological work stress among air traffic control specialists (ATCSs) have typically employed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 

(STAI) to assess stress. Interpretation of the findings, however, has been tempered 

by a concern that use of the college student normative data available for this test 

might underestimate actual ATCS stress levels. Since ATCSs differ from college 

students in a number of seemingly important respects, a study was undertaken to 

obtain baseline STAI data from a sample of adult, non-ATCS FAA personnel. Biographical and STAI data were collected from 1,972 men and women ranging in age from the 

twenties into the sixties. Respondents were classified according to age, sex, education, occupational supervisory level, and degree of present work-shift difficulty. 

STAI scores were compared according to each method of classification. Significant 

age differences were found for both State and Trait anxiety scores in comparisons 

involving the 25-29 and the 60-69 year age groups. However, there were no difference 

in State or Trait anxiety scores between age groups below age 60. Comparisons of the 

scores of individuals within the 25-59 year age range with college undergraduate data 

revealed either no differences or significantly higher anxiety scores for the college 

undergraduate group. No significant differences in State or Trait anxiety scores 

were found between men and women, between different levels of occupational supervision, or between different educational levels. State anxiety scores were found to 

differ significantly in relation to work shift difficulty with shifts rated as "Very 

Difficult" having higher State scores than each of the four other shift ratings of 

lower difficulty; these changes, however, were not appreciably different from those 

nrouir.nclu r.h+-=>ir>orl -Fr.r Z.'Pf"'Qc 

17. KeyWords 

Anxiety 

Air Traffic Controllers 

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 

Stress 

Workload 

19. Security Classd. (of this report) 

Unclassified 

18. Distribution Statement 

Document is available to the public through 

the National Technical Information Service, 

Springfield, Virginia 22161 

20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. af Pages 22. Price 

Unclassified 18 

Form DOT F 1700.7 C8-72l Reproduction of completed page authorized 
METHODOLOGY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF STRESS AMONG AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL 

SPECIALISTS (ATCS): NORMATIVE ADULT DATA FOR THE STATE-TRAIT 

ANXIETY INVENTORY FROM NON-ATCS POPULATIONS 

Introduction. 

Air traffic control specialists (ATCSs) are often considered to be in an 

occupation which requires that they endure a high degree of work-related 

stress. Some popular magazine accounts have even indicated that ATCSs may 

be near the limits of their ability to cope with such stress. 

Based on those concerns, a number of field studies \vas conducted by the 

Civil Aeromedical Institute over the past 10 years to evaluate the level of 

stress associated with air traffic control work. Physiological, biochemical, 

and psychological indices of stress and anxiety were employed and measures 

were obtained on ATCSs from a variety of facilities under differing workload 

conditions. A summary of the research findings has recently been published 

by Smith ( 4) . 

The principal psychological measure of anxiety used in the series of 

studies noted above was the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) which is a 

standardized measure of both A-Trait, the propensity to experience anxiety, 

and A-State, the more variable current level of anxiety (8). Of the limited 

normative group data available for this test, the group most closely matching 

the ATCS sample was that of college undergraduates who had the lowest mean 

score of any of the available normative groups (high school students, surgical patients, and prisoners). 

A recurrent finding in the studies reviewed by Smith (4) was that ATCSs 

typically showed A-Trait and A-State scores that were clearly within, and 

most often below, the average levels of the college student normative group. 

This would seem to suggest that ATCSs are not engaged in work that is unusually stressful to them. ATCSs, however, differ from college students in 

a number of seemingly important respects (e.g., age, type and level of education, nature of their work, and the fact that ATCSs are predominantly men). 

There is at least some evidence that reported anxiety levels may decrease 

with age (3) and that the nature of this decline may differ as a function of 

sex (2). If so, then the low scores of ATCSs compared to college students 

may be, at least in part, an artifact of developmental processes that might 

be.sex-influenced as well as age-influenced. 

In order to evaluate from the most accurate perspective the STAI data 

obtained for ATCSs, it appeared necessary to secure baseline data for the 

STAI from an adult population comprised of men and women covering a wide age 

range and engaged in a variety of occupations. The present investigation was 

conducted as part of a larger study to provide these and other normative data 

for comparison with ATCSs. 

1 
With respect to occupation, the effects of three characteristics on reported anxiety (both Trait and State}_ were evaluated. First, occupational 

level as given by Super (9) was considered at three levels of job responsibility: nonsupervisor, supervisor, and manager. The second characteristi.e 

was the educational or training level, a factor suggested by Benge, Burk, and 

Hay (1) in their job evaluation method. The third factor, workload difficulty 

was assessed using a scale developed by Smith and Melton (5}_ to measure per..,. 

ceived workload in air traffic controllers. To determine the et"t"ect ot" work 

itself upon the report of anxiety, a subsample of male respondents was asked 

to indicate State anxiety levels just before and just after work shifts for 

several shifts. 

Method. 

Participants. The respondents to the questionnaire in this study were 

volunteers from the work force of the Federal Aviation Administration '-s (FAA)_ 

Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. The center employs 

approximately 3, 500 individuals, both men and women, with a wide range of ages. 

and occupations. Questionnaires were distributed to approximately 2, 4Q,O 

members of the work force, and usable questionnaires were returned by 1,972 

for an approximate response rate of 82 percent. Usable questionnaires were 

those which had no more than three blanks on an anxiety scale and wi.th at 

least one of the questions on age, sex, or occupational characteristics answered. 

Table 1 presents the demographic characteristics, age, ethnic o:r;-igin, and 

educational level of the respondent sample. Note in this table that the "Nlsu 

for the groups differ from one characteristic to another because not all 

respondents answered all of the relevant questions. The total sample was 

composed of 75.5 percent men and 24.4 percent women. The women respondents 

averaged somewhat younger than the men (41. 2 vs. 44. 2 years}_ and the me. an age 

of the men in the before/after shift (43.6 years} was only slightly below 

that of the entire group of respondent men. However, the range ot ages 

represented was similar for the two sexes. In Table 2, th_e age distribution 

of the survey sample is compared to the distribution of the general population 

as given in the 1978 Statistical Abstract of the United States (10) • The 

proportions of the survey sample in the younger age groups (22-24 and 25-34} 

and in the oldest group (55-64) were somewhat lower than in the general 

population, while the members surveyed in the middle age groups (_35-44 and 

45-54) were somewhat higher proportionately than in th.e general population 

figures. 

The second section of Table 1, ethnic origin, shows that the men and women 

respondents were very similar in the proportions in each ethnic group. The 

groups were represented approximately as expected according to their distribution in .the national population (Table 2) with one exception, viz the 

Native American category which was represented by 9.9 percent of the men and 

11.0 percent of the women. Since Oklahoma has the largest population o:J; 

Native American Indians in the Uni.ted States (10), it would be expected that 

the proportion would be somewhat higher than the proportion in the total population of the United States, but not 25 times higher. Figures obtained from 

2 
Table l. Percentage of Respondents in Each Age, Ethnic, and Educational Group 

Before/After 

Men Women Shift 

N=l,439 N=460 N=66 

Age in Years Percent 

20 to 24 l.O 4.6 

25 to 29 4.2 10.9 6.1 

30 to 34 10.6 13.9 7.6 

35 to 39 14.0 16.1 15.2 

40 to 44 19.2 17.4 28.8 

45 to 49 22.7 12.4 22.7 

50 to 54 14.5 11.3 4.5 

55 to 59 9.7 8.3 9.1 

60 to 69 4.0 5.2 6.1 

Ethnic Origin N=l,454 N=472 N=52 

Asian 0.3 0.4 

Black 7.8 9.5 9.6 

Caucasian 80.5 78.0 78.8 

Hispanic 1.2 0.6 

Native American 9.9 ll.O 9.6 

Other 0.2 0.4 1.9 

Education N=l,399 N=455 N=52 

Less than 12 years 3.0 0.9 9.6 

High school through 

3 years of college 38.5 60.9 30.8 

College graduate or 

higher degree 31.0 10.8 25.0 

Business or trade 

school 27.5 27.5 34.7 

NOTE: The N's for the groups differ from one section of the table 

to another because not all respondents answered all of the 

relevant questions. 

the center's personnel office showed that American Indians consti.tuted 4 .,8 

percent of the work force at the time of the s.urvey. The much higher than 

expected proportion selecting this category suggests that a number of native~ 

born non-Indians misunderstood the meaning of the Native American designation. 

3 
Table 2. Percentages of Respondents in the ·survey Sample According to Age, 

Ethnic Group, and Education Compared with Percentages in the 

General Population of the United States (ref. 10) 

Survey Sample General Population 

Men Women Men Women 

Age in Years Percent 

22 to 24a 1.0 4.6 10.1 10.5 

25 to 34 14.8 24.8 30.0 29.1 

35 to 44 33.2 33.5 21.0 21.0 

45 to 54 37.2 23.7 20.8 21.0 

55 to 64a 13.7 13.5 17.7 18.7 

Ethnic Groups b 

Caucasian 80.5 78.0 86.9 86 .4 

Black 7.8 9.5 11.4 11.8 

Hispanic 1.2 0.6 

Asian 0.3 0.4 1.1 1.0 

Native American 9.9 11.0 0.4 0.4 

Education 

Less than 12 years 3.0 0.9 34.4 35.7 

High school through 

3 years of collegec 66.0 88.4 46.3 52.3 

College graduate or 

higher degree 31.0 10.8 19. 2. 12.0 

aThe survey sample ranges for these groupings were from 20 to 24 and 

55 to 69, respectively. 

bThe five choices were mutually exclusive for the survey sample. However, 

for the general population percentages, the Hispanic figures were includec 

in either the Caucasian or Black figures. 

cThe survey sample percentages for this category include post high school 

business or trade school attendees. 

4-
The information provided by respondents on educati.onal achievement 

(Table 1) indicates a well-educated sample with 58.5 percent of the men and 

38.8 percent of the women either having graduated from college or having 

attended a business or trade school. As this percentage suggests, the women 

were less highly educated on the average than the men, x2 (3) = 99.6 p < .001. 

While the percentage graduating from high school was about the same, three 

times as large a percentage of men as women earned college degrees. There 

were significant differences for both men, x2 (3) = 619.1, p < .001, and 

women, x2 (3) = 268.2, l2. < .001, in comparison to the educational achievement 

of the general population (Table 2), with a substantially larger proportion 

of men and women in the survey sample having finished high school through 3 

years of college, and a larger proportion of the surveyed men having graduated 

from college. 

The subsample of men who had A-State assessments taken before and after 

several work shifts was similar in most respects to the total sample of men 

(Table l) . The mean ages were almost identical and the age distributions 

did not differ significantly. The ethnic composition of the subsample was 

also very close to that of the main sample. In the area of educational 

achievement, the before/after sample differed from the main sample of men, 

x2 (3) = 10.3, l2. < .05, with generally less education across the various 

educational categories. 

The occupations represented by the before/after subsample were: 

accountants, aircraft mechanics, boiler operators, clerks, computer programmers, electronic engineers, electronic technicians, and warehousemen. 

Additional occupations were represented in the total sample. 

Questionnaire. The items on which this study is based were included in 

a longer questionnaire used for a more extensive survey on the effects of 

shift work. The pages of the questionnaire used are included as Appendix II. 

However, only the items marked by an asterisk were used for this study. These 

included the demographic items covering age, sex, formal education or training, and occupational level, as well as items measuring the difficulty of 

present work shift. The A-State (Y-1) and A-Trait (Y-2) scales of the revised STAI (7) were included as part of the questionnaire, but are not shown 

in the appendix. 

Except for the subsample dealing with work shifts, the form of the STAI 

used in this study was the recently revised version (7) of the original form 

first published in 1968 (6). The revised A-State scale has six new or reworded items, and the A-Trait scale has seven new items. Even so, the 

correlations between the two versions are .96-.97 for the A-Trait scale and 

.96-.98 for the A-State scale indicating that the versions are generally 

interchangeable (7). 

Both versions of the STAI were used in the subsample which assessed change 

in anxiety level from before to after work. Since the earlier version was 

used in all of the previous studies involving similar assessments of ATCSs (4), 

this procedure allowed direct comparisons to be made of the two versions on 

the adult population sampled in this study. 

5 
Procedure. Volunteers were given a packet containing an instruction 

sheet (Appendix I) and the questionnaire (Appendix II). The questionnaire was 

retrieved in the original envelope within 1 hour if possible ' (i) to insure 

that it was answered in the work environment and not at home, and (ii) to vary 

the time the questionnaire was answered throughout the day so that no one 

particular work time was sampled excessively. The latter was accomplished by 

varying the initial distribution time throughout the work day as different 

work units were visited. 

The participants who volunteered for the before and after work assessment 

were each assigned a number which was to be recorded on the main questionnaire 

as well as on each "before and after" A-State scale. The purpose of assigning 

the numbers was to provide anonymity and at the same time aliow collation of 

the main questionnaire and the several A-State scales from the "before and 

after" assessments. Arrangementswere made to distribute ' a "before" A-State 

scale to each volunteer at the beginning of each assessment period and an 

"after" A-State scale plus a shift-difficulty questionnaire in the last hour 

of each assessment (the shift-difficulty questionnaire was part of the larger 

study and is not considered here). An effort was made to have all volunteers 

complete an A-State scale before and after work for three consecutive work 

shifts. Of the 88 participants, 53.4 percent finished all 3 days, 31.8 percent completed 2 days, and 14.8 percent completed 1 day of this part of the 

survey. All of the before and after A-State scales were collected within 1 

hour of their distribution. 

Results. 

Age. For both A-Trait and A-State the mean scores were highest for the 

25- to 29-year age group and then generally declined through the successive 

age groups until reaching the lowest value in the 60- to 69-year age group. 

Figure 1 presents a plot of the mean A-Trait scores for the eight age groups 

while Figure 2 presents the same information for the A-State scores. 

The trend of declining STAI scores for increases in age was confirmed by 

performing age-by-sex ANOVAs for both the A-Trait and the A-State scores. The 

outcomes were almost identical in that the main effect for the age factor was 

significant in both ANOVAs (F(7/1745) = 5.44, E < .01 and F(7/1745) = 4,58, 

p < .01 for A-Trait and A-State, respectively}. The effect of sex was not 

significant, nor was the interaction between the age and sex factors signi£icant in either analysis. Subsequent Newman-Keuls (ll} comparisons of the 

mean scores for the eight age groups indicated that the 25- to 29-year age 

group differed significantly (£. < .05). from the 60- to 69-year age group on 

both A-Trait and A-State scores. None of the other comparisons was signifi~ 

cant. 

on the basis of the above ANOVAs and comparisons, the sample was divided 

along the lines of significant differences. Thus, three functional age 

categories were formed: The 25 through 29 group, the collapsed groups from 

30 through 59, and the 60 through 69 group. The groups between 30 and 59 were 

combined because of the lack of significant differences among them, and 

6 

1 

I 

• 

J 
• 

• 

) 

BOJ 

40 

37.84 

+-

c 

L. 

I- 35.05 35.03 

I 

<{ 35 

35.09 35.19 ~ 

c 

a::: 

32.40 

30 

201 

25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-69 

Age Groups 

Figure 1. Mean A-Trait scores for the eight age groups. 

because they occupied an intermediate position between the extreme groups, 

which did differ significantly. The scores of these three groups were 

compared to the scores reported for the original STAI form by Spielberger et 

al. (8) for high school juniors, college freshmen, and college undergraduate& 

Table 3 gives the results of the ! tests for these comparisions. The 

comparisions of A-Trait scores indicated that the high school, college freshmen, and college undergraduate samples all scored significantly higher than 

FAA respondents in the 30- to 59- and 60- to 69-year age groups for both men 

and women. 

The significant differences for the men on the A-State scores were that 

the high school students and college undergraduates both scored higher than 

the FAA men in the 60 to 69 age group, and the college freshmen scored higher 

than the FAA men in all three age categories. The A-State scores of the 

women in the high school and college freshmen groups were significantly higher 

than the FAA women in both the 30- to 59- and the 60- to 69-year age groups, 

while the college undergraduate women scored lower than FAA women in the 25 

to 29 age group. 

7 
To determin~ the strength of the relationship between age and A-Trait 

and A-State scores in the present study, Pearson product-amount correlation 

coefficients were computed between age and scores on the A-Trait and A-State 

80J 

40 

37:.98 

GJ 

... 

0 

... 

en 

I 35 34.22 <( 

~ 34.22 

0 

a: 

32.16 

30 

20 r 

25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-69 

Age Group~ 

Figure 2. Mean A-State scores for the eight age groups. 

scales for both men and women. The coefficients for men were -.08 for A-Trait 

(E.< .01) and -.08 for A-State C.E. < .01), while for women they were -.20 for 

A-Trait (£ < .001) and -.16 for A-State (£ < .001). Although each of these 

correlations is significant and consistently in the direction of decreased 

scores with increased age, they are all low and account for only 0.6 to 4.1 

percent of the variance in the age and STAI measures. 

Sex ~ The mean A-State scores for men (35.68) and women (35.43) did not 

differ significantly by ! test, nor did the mean A-Trait scores for men 

(34.93) and women (34.85) differ significantly. This equivalence of men's 

and women's STAI scores extended across the various levels of the other major 

variables of this study, viz, supervisory level, educational level, and shift 

8 

" 
Table 3. Mean STAI Scores of the Present Sample by Age and Sex r.roupings and ! Tests Between Sc

Subjects on Original Form X (ref. 8) and Scores of Present Sample by Age and Sex Groupings 

Normative Groups 

Present Higtj School College C

Sam,ele Juniors Freshmen Unde

Men Women Men Women Men Women Men 

Ag:e in Years A-Trait 

25 to 29 36.61 39.37 39.37 41.61 38.07 38.22 37.68 

t 1.90 1.20 1.19 -0.89 0.74 

30 to 59 34.82 34.41 

t 6.41*** 8 . 13*** 5 , 92*** 6.81*** 4.52*

60 to 69 33.00 30.74 

t 4 . 45*** 4.10*** 4.16*** 3.93*** 3.26*

A-State 

25 to 29 36 . 75 39 . 50 36.99 37.57 40.01 39.39 36.35 

-- --- --- 

t 0.17 -0.99 2.80** -0.08 -0 . 28 

30 to 59 35.64 35.00 

t 1.69 2.60** 7 . 15*** 7.12*** 1.00 

60 to 69 32.06 32.41 

t 3.51*** 1.97* 6.72*** 3.71*** 2 . 98*

*p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < • 001 
difficulty. STAI scores for each of these variables are shown in Tables 4 

and 5 and Figure 3, respectively. In none of the ANOVAs performed on the 

data shown in these tables, was the main effect for the sex f'actor or the 

interaction effect of sex with any other factor significant. 

Supervisory Level. Three groups of respondents, nonsupervisors, 

supervisors, and managers, were identified by their responses' to Items 8 and 

9 under the job information section of the questionnaire. For those groups 

the mean A-State scores were 35.74, 35.15, and 35.64 and the A-Trait scores 

were 35.27, 34.43, and 33.55, respectively. There were no significant 

differences in mean A-State or A-Trait scores among these three groups of 

respondents (see Table 4). 

Table 4. 

Men 

A-Trait 

Women 

Men 

A-State 

Women 

Mean A-Trait and A-State Scores for 

Nonsupervisors, Supervisors, and Managers 

Nonsupervisors Supervisors Managers 

35.33 34.13 33.75 

35.13 36.94 32.37 

35.79 35.01 34.90 

35.64 36.47 33.17 

Educational Level. The information given by respondents about education 

in the General Information section of the questionnaire was used to classify 

the following three groups: (1) completion of 1 or more years of business 

or trade school, (2) education up to 3 years of college, and (3) completion 

of a bachelor's or higher degree. The respective A-State scores for these 

groups were 33.57, 35.61, and 35.45 and the respective A-Trait scores were 

35.09, 35.05, 34.43. Neither the A-State nor the A-Trait_ scores differed 

significantly among groups (see Table 5). 

A 

Difficulty of Shift. The five response alternatives for question 11 on 

shift difficulty in the job information section of the questionnaire provided 

five categories of shift difficulty and the corresponding groups of respondents. Figure 3 shows the mean A-State scores for workers in shifts rated 

"very difficult," "difficult," "neither difficult nor easy," "easy," and 

"very easy"; Figure 4 shows the mean A-Trait scores for the same groups of 

respondents. The mean A-State scores for groups who rated their shifts as 

"very difficult" and, to a lesser extent, as "difficult" were noticeably 

elevated above the scores of the other three groups. The ANOVA conducted on 

these scores yielded a significant effect for shift difficulty. 

10 
Table 5. Mean A-Trait and A-State Scores 

for Three Educational Levels 

One Year or More <13 Years 

of Trade School of School 

Men 34.47 34.97 

A-Trait 

Women 34.33 35.23 

Men 35.46 35.71 

A-State 

Women 35.42 35.40 

College 

Graduate 

35.22 

33.89 

35.69 

34.45 

(F(4/1782) = 18.47, £ < .01). A Newman-Keuls (11) comparison between the 

means of the five groups indicated that the "very difficult" shift group had 

significantly (£ < .01) higher A-State scores than the other four groups, but 

that there were no significant differences among the remaining groups. 

Gl 

~ 

0 

~ 

(/) 

I 

<X 

): 

0 

0::: 

43.27 

35 

34.70 33.93 

30 

25 

20~----~------~------~------~------~----~ Very 

Difficult Difficult Neither Easy Very 

Easy 

Figure 3. Mean A-State scores for the five shift difficulty groups. 

11 
!:: 35 

0 

'-

1-

I 

<( 

~ 

0 

0:: 30 

25 

20 

Very 

Difficult Difficult 

34.55 

Neither 

33.85 

Easy Very 

Easy 

Figure 4. Mean A-Trait scores for the five shift difficulty groups. 

The mean A-Trait scores as presented in Figure 4 do not show as great a 

difference between groups as did the A-State scores, although the trend is 

the same; the scores declined across progressively easier shifts. The ANOVA 

on the A-Trait scores shown in Figure 4 revealed a significant (F(4/l786 = 

4.72, £ < .01) effect for shift difficulty. However, a subsequent NewmanKeuls comparison did not detect any significant differences among the groups. 

It is rare not to find significant differences between cells in a NewmanKeuls comparison after finding a significant main effect in an ANOVA. However, 

because the Newman-Keuls test controls error rate with a conservative strategy, 

failures to obtain significant differences do occur occasionally in the use of 

this method (ll). 

Work. The effect of work itself upon anxiety was assessed by comparing 

A-State scores from before and after work for the subsample of 88 men. The 

mean "before" score was 33.12 and the mean "after" score was higher at 37.01. 

This 3.89 mean difference was statistically significant, t (87) = -6.49, 

£ < • 001. 

12 
Correlations between the scores obtained on the revised and the original 

version of the A-State scale for these subjects were +.54 for the before-work 

and +.64 for the after-work assessments. The correlation between the two 

forms on the A-Trait scale was +.86. Since the STAI assessments were completed on consecutive days, these values are essentially test-retest correlations and are similar to test-retest outcomes reported for the original 

version of the STAI (+.33 to +.54 for A-State and +.84 for A-Trait) (8). As 

expected, the A-Trait scale is the more constant of the two, since it is 

designed to measure a fairly stable personality characteristic, while the 

A-State scale is intended to measure periodic fluctuations in anxiety. 

Discussion. 

STAI scores for both A-Trait and A-State decreased significantly with 

age. However, this decrease was found to be attributable to the difference 

in scores of the youngest (25-29 years) and oldest (60-69 years) age groups 

studied. Since A-Trait and A-State scores of individuals aged 30 through 59 

did not differ from those of the youngest group, the scores of adults falling 

within the age range of 25 to 59 were compared with scores of the normative 

data for college undergraduates. These comparisons revealed either no differences or significantly higher mean values for college undergraduates. The 

only exception was the finding of significantly lower A-State scores in 

college undergraduate women relative to the 25- to 29-year age group of women 

sampled in the present study. Since the age range of active ATCSs easily 

falls within the 25-59 year age range, the undergraduate normative data used 

in previous studies (4) to assess anxiety levels among ATCSs appears to 

adequately represent anxiety levels typical of an adult population of non-airtraffic-control specialists. 

Neither level of supervisory responsibility nor educational level was 

found to be related to STAI scores. Nor were there any differences between 

men and women in either A-Trait and A-State. This latter finding is in 

agreement with the general lack of significant sex differences in STAI scores 

reported by Spielberger et al. (8) where only in a sample of high school 

juniors did A-Trait scores of men and women differ. 

The perceived degree of difficulty of a work shift has been previously 

shown to be related to STAI scores when measured in a high-stress occupation 

(5). That relationship was also found to exist in the present sample which 

was drawn from a spectrum of occupations. Thus, it appears that for a wide 

range of occupational activities, there is a distinction between very 

difficult work periods which are perceived as more anxiety arousing than 

usual, and all work periods of lesser or no difficulty that are not remarkably anxiety arousing. 

There are important implications from this finding in situations where 

the aroused anxiety is detrimental to performance of required tasks. Where 

possible, assessments of shift difficulty and anxiety might serve as valuable 

indications that alternative work situations are needed. The findings of the 

present study suggest that the STAI might be useful in making assessments not 

only of anxiety, but possibly of shift difficulty as well. 

13 
The increase in A-State scores from before work to after work found in 

this study is similar to the findings reported by Smith and Melton (5) for 

ATCSs. However, Smith and Melton reported two sets of "before" and "after" 

work scores: One set for shifts rated as easy and the other set. for shifts 

rated as difficult. The difference in ratings between the easy (30.17) and 

difficult (29.07) shifts was not significant and these scores from ATCSs were 

approximately three and four points lower than the "before" work mean score 

(33.12) found in the present study for a variety of occupations. 

In the Smith and Melton study, mean scores obtained after the easy 

(33.10) and difficult (37.55) shifts differed significantly from each other 

and both were significantly higher than their respective scores "before" 

work. The mean non-ATCS "after" work score (37.01) for the present study was 

approximately the same as the mean ATCS "after" work score (37.55) reported 

by Smith and t-iel ton for difficult shifts. 

These comparisons suggest that the sample used in the present study, 

which included accountants, aircraft mechanics, boiler operators, clerks, 

computer programmers, electronic engineers, electronic technicians, and 

warehousemen, had a higher before-work level of A-State than the air traffic 

controllers of the Smith and Melton study. Also, the indications are that 

the worker sample of the present study had an after-work A-State level almost 

as high as the ATCSs who rated their shift as difficult. In making these 

comparisons, it should be noted that even the ATCSs of the relatively high 

A-Trait group in the Smith and Melton study averaged below the fiftieth 

percentile in the college normative data given by Spielberger et. al. (8) . 

Finally, it is important to note that although A-Trait and before-work 

A-State levels may vary across different occupations, there is usually an increase of A-State levels during a work shift which must be considered against 

the baseline for the specific group of interest. 

Conclusions. 

STAI scores of adult men and women within the age range of 25 through 59 

years were generally equal to or slightly less than scores of the college 

undergraduate normative group. This suggests that the previous use of undergraduate norms to evaluate A-Trait and A-State scores of ATCSs did not underestimate the levels of work-related stress associated with their work. 

Smith's (4) conclusion that "there is little evidence to support the notion 

that ATCSs are engaged in an unusually stressful occupation" is not changed 

by the findings of this study. Although A-State scores increased from before 

work to after work in the subsample of FAA employees surveyed in the present 

study, neither the absolute levels of work stress nor the change in stress 

induced by work were noticeably different from those ievels and changes 

reported by ATCSs who rated their work shifts as difficult. 

14 
Appendix I 

INSTRUCTION SHEET FOR PARTICIPANTS 

This questionnaire is part of a survey on the effects of work on FAA 

employees being conducted by the Civil Aeromedical Institute. Your voluntary 

participation is requested and will be greatly appreciated. Your responses 

to the questions will be anonymous so do not put your name on the questionnaire. 

The questionnaire is brief and should take only approximately 15 minutes 

to complete. You should answer the questions with your first impression and 

not take too long on any one item. Please try to respond to all items, however, if you do not wish to answer an item you may leave it blank .. 

In responding to the Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (pages 2 and 3 of 

this survey) please notice that the directions ask you to answer as ''you 

feel right now" for questions 1 through 20 and to answer as "you generally 

feel" for questions 21 through 40. 

When you have completed the questionnaire, return the form to the original 

envelope and seal the envelope. The survey form will be collected as indicated by the person who distributed it. 

15 

' ,, 
Appendix II 

BIOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONNAIRE 

General Information 

*Age -----

*Sex M F ---

*I consider myself: 

Asian --- Hispanic ---

Black Native American --- ---

Caucasian --- Other (Please specify) ----

*Education (Check highest level completed): 

Grades 1 7 College 1 Trade or 1 -- -- Business 

2 8 2 School 2 -- --

3 9 3 3 -- --

4 10 4 4 -- --

5 11 5 5 or more -- --

6 12 6 -- --

7 or more 

16 
Appendix II(Continued) 

Job Information 

l. Present government grade: GS __ _ WG __ _ 

2. Current FAA position title (For example, clerk-stenographer, aviation 

safety inspector, training instructor): ------------------------------------ 3. How long have you worked in this position? --------------------------------- 4. How many years have you worked for the FAA/CAA? -----------------------------

5. How would you describe your present occupation/profession? (For example, 

engineer, secretary, machinist, pilot, etc.) 

6. How many years have you been in this occupation? --------------------------

7. If you have changed occupations in the last five years, what was your 

previous occupation? ----~--------------------------------------------------

*'8. Are you presently a supervisor; that is, does your official job description include the responsibility for directly supervising the work of 

others? Yes No --- ---

~. Are you presently a manager; that is, does your official job description 

include the responsibility for managing a program, budget development, 

policy making, management by objectives requirements, etc.? (Check if 

this applies no matter what your answer to Item 8 was.) Yes No 

ID. In general, how difficult is your iob? 

Very Difficult Difficult Neither Easy Very Easy 

*ll. Up to now, how difficult has today's shift been; or, if you are just 

starting the shift, how difficult do you expect it to be? 

(Check one) Up to now __ _ Expect to be ---

Very .Difficult Difficult Neither Easy Very Easy 

17 
References 

1. Benge, E. J., s. L. Burk, and E. N. Hay: Manual of Job Evaluation. New 

York: Harper and Row, 1941. 

2. Cattel, R. B., H. W. Eber, and M. M. Tatsuoka: Handbook for the Sixteen 

Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF): Champaign, Illinois: The 

Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, 1970. 

3. Cattell, R. B;, and I. H. Scheier: 

Neuroticism and Anxiety. New York: 

The Meaning and Measurement of 

Ronald, 1961. 

4. Smith, R. C.: Stress, Anxiety, and the Air Traffic Control Specialist: 

Some Conclusions From a Decade of Research. FAA Office of Aviation 

Medicine Report No. AM-80-14, 1980. 

5. Smith, R. C. and c. E. Melton: Susceptibility to Anxiety and Shift 

Difficulty as Determinants of State Anxiety in Air Traffic Controllers. 

AEROSPACE MEDICINE, 45:599-601, 1975. 

6. Spielberger, c. D.: Self-Evaluation Questionnaire, STAI Form X-1 and 

x~2. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1968. 

7. Spielberger, c. D: Self-Evaluation Questionnaire, STAI Form Y-1 and Y-2· 

Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1977. 

8. Spielberger, C. D., R. L. Gorsuch, and R. E. Lushene: Manual for the 

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palto Alto: Consulting Psychologists 

Press, 1970. 

9. Super, D. E: The Psychology of Careers. ~ew York: Harper and Brother& 

1957. 

10. U. S. Department of Commerce. Statistical Abstract of the United States 

1978. 

11. Winer, B. J.: Statistical Principles in Experimental Design. New York: 

McGraw-Hill, 1962. 

18 

* U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1981 0 - 349 - 245