The integration type subscales describe the prototypical manners in which individuals relate to various discrete affects, including how they experience and express them. The two integration types operationalized in the AII 2.0 are Driven and Lack of Access, and the scales link each integration type to a discrete affect (e.g., Driven by Anger).
The subscales were not tested in the initial validation of the instrument and are not traditionally available in other procedures for assessing affect integration. They were created by selecting items from the AII 2.0 that theoretically correspond to the relevant integration types. For some affects, there is as little as one item tapping an integration type, whereas for others there are up to five. Additionally, not all the affects have items representing both integration types. Affects with two or more items tapping a given integration type were accepted for inclusion. The scales included in our analyses were the following: Driven by Anger (example item: “I am afraid of losing control over my anger or afraid of what might happen if I get angry”), Lack of Access to Anger (example item: “It is difficult for me to allow myself to feel angry even when I have good reason”), Driven by Guilt (example item: “I feel burdened by too much guilt”), Lack of Access to Guilt (example item: “When I feel guilty about something, I try not to think about it”), Driven by Shame (example item: “Shame and embarrassment cause me to avoid important social contexts”), Lack of Access to Interest (example item: “I feel less interest and excitement than I would like”), and Driven by Jealousy (example item: “When I get jealous, it can grind on and on in my mind without me being able to stop it”).
As the AII 2.0 was developed to measure the broader concept of affect integration, high scores traditionally reflect adaptive functioning and high affect integration. However, the integration types reflect prototypically problematic ways of experiencing affect. Thus, for ease of reading and interpretation, scores have been organized so that high scores on these scales are reflective of increased problem load.
The subscales were not tested in the initial validation of the instrument and are not traditionally available in other procedures for assessing affect integration. They were created by selecting items from the AII 2.0 that theoretically correspond to the relevant integration types. For some affects, there is as little as one item tapping an integration type, whereas for others there are up to five. Additionally, not all the affects have items representing both integration types. Affects with two or more items tapping a given integration type were accepted for inclusion. The scales included in our analyses were the following: Driven by Anger (example item: “I am afraid of losing control over my anger or afraid of what might happen if I get angry”), Lack of Access to Anger (example item: “It is difficult for me to allow myself to feel angry even when I have good reason”), Driven by Guilt (example item: “I feel burdened by too much guilt”), Lack of Access to Guilt (example item: “When I feel guilty about something, I try not to think about it”), Driven by Shame (example item: “Shame and embarrassment cause me to avoid important social contexts”), Lack of Access to Interest (example item: “I feel less interest and excitement than I would like”), and Driven by Jealousy (example item: “When I get jealous, it can grind on and on in my mind without me being able to stop it”).
As the AII 2.0 was developed to measure the broader concept of affect integration, high scores traditionally reflect adaptive functioning and high affect integration. However, the integration types reflect prototypically problematic ways of experiencing affect. Thus, for ease of reading and interpretation, scores have been organized so that high scores on these scales are reflective of increased problem load.
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