Anxiety disorders are associated with impairment in social functioning and poor quality of life, with personal impairment affecting many areas. Instead of collapsing together symptoms and functioning, the Kennedy Axis V is designed to assess seven dimensions.

Thirty-five outpatients consecutively admitted to our Anxiety Disorders Unit were evaluated before starting treatment by a set of instruments including: Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia (MIA), Self-rating Anxiety State (SAS), Anxiety Status Inventory (ASI), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), Symptom Check List 90 Revised (SCL-90-R), Brief-COPE, and Kennedy Axis V (K Axis).

Sample characteristics: age 38.5±10.9, males 36.1%, current substance use 14.3%, previous drug treatment 82.9%, previous psychotherapy 28.6%. Symptom scores (mean±SD): MIA 7.41±6.84, PSWQ 46.59±12.15, ASI 58.97±10.53, SAS 59.43±11.85; as for the SCL-90-R subscales and indexes: Somatization (SOM) 1.62±0.76, Obsessive-Compulsive (O-C) 1.48±0.70, Interpersonal Sensivity (I-S) 1.38±0.85, Depression (DEP) 2.02±0.90, Anxiety (ANX) 1.94±0.79, Hostility (HOS) 1.14±0.84, Phobic Anxiety (PHOB) 1.52±1.11, Paranoid Ideation (PAR) 1.33±0.87, Psychoticism (PSYC) 0.88±0.72; General Symptomatic Index (GSI) 1.55±0.59, Positive Symptom Total (PST) 58.84±15.42, Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI) 2.19±0.57. The results of the K Axis subscale for psychological functioning (PSY) was 54.00±4.97; all the remaining subscales scored 90 or more. Significant correlations between symptom scales and psychological functioning were (Spearman's Rho, α=.05): PSY vs. PSDI -0.526 (p=.002), PSY vs. PSYC -0.446 (p=.008), PSY vs. DEP -0.43 (p=.011), PSY vs. GSI -0.427 (p=.012), PSY vs. I-S -0.425 (p=.001).

Scores on the self-rated symptomatic scales are inversely correlated with the clinician-attributed score of PSY, suggesting construct validity.