Citation

Orgiles M, Rodríguez-Menchón M, Fernández-Martínez I, Morales A, Espada JP. Clin. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 2019; ePub(ePub): 1359104519835579.

Affiliation

Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, Spain.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1359104519835579

PMID

30880435

Abstract

Although Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) is a widely used anxiety measure in many countries around the world, until now, research has barely focused on the usefulness of the parent version (SCAS-P) in young children. This study examines the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the SCAS-P in a Spanish community sample of 181 children aged 6-8 years ( M = 6.87, SD = 0.78). Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the original six-factor model to the Spanish sample. The internal consistency and the test-retest reliability of the scale were high. Regarding the validity of this measure, higher and significant correlations between the SCAS-P and internalizing problems and lower correlations with externalizing problems were obtained, as found in the original version. Girls seemed to show more anxiety problems than boys, but no significant differences were found. The results suggest that the SCAS-P is an adequate measure to assess anxious symptomatology in young children. The availability of measures with good psychometric properties allows psychologists to assess and carry out a correct and early diagnosis of anxiety disorders in children, making possible an early clinical intervention.

Language: en

Keywords

Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale; anxiety; assessment; children; parents; psychometric properties