Psychometric Validation of the Instrument for Fear of Driving (IFD)

Dataset for: Fischer, C., Schröder, A., Taylor, J. E., & Heider, J. (2021). Measuring driving fear: Development and validation of the Instrument for Fear of Driving (IFD). European Journal of Psychological Assessment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000683

Presently, there is no instrument to support the diagnosis of driving fear and its severity. To enable a reliable and valid diagnosis, the 5-item German-language Instrument for Fear of Driving (IFD) was developed. The items, by DSM-5 criteria for a specific phobia, measure the emotional, cognitive, and physiological components of driving fear as well as the degree of avoidance and impairment. The present paper comprises two studies that describe the development of the IFD and its psychometric properties. In Study 1, the IFD was administered to 810 non-clinical participants in an online survey and demonstrated good reliability and construct validity. In Study 2, fifty-four people with a clinical diagnosis, including clinically relevant driving fear, completed the IFD and a clinical interview. The IFD demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity, and a cut-off score resulted in 95% sensitivity and 97% specificity. While the findings are preliminary and further studies with larger samples are needed, the IFD is a promising screening instrument for driving fear and its severity.