Tolerance of Negative Affective States (TNAS): Development and Evaluation of a Novel Construct and Measure

The purpose of the present research was to develop and evaluate a novel conceptual model and measure of Tolerance of Negative Affective States (TNAS). Exploratory factor and parallel analyses and subsequent confirmatory factor analyses supported a hierarchical multi-dimensional model of TNAS. We observed one higher-order factor, labeled Tolerance of Negative Emotions, and six lower-order factors, including, FI Tolerance of Fear-Distress, FII Tolerance of Sadness-Depression, FIII Tolerance of Anger, FIV Tolerance of Disgust, FV Tolerance of Anxious-Apprehension, and FVI Tolerance of Negative Social Emotions. A series of tests documented that TNASS sub-scale scores demonstrate internal consistency as well as convergent and discriminant validity. We discuss the findings with respect to understanding the nature of the emergent TNAS construct and its measurement.