Psychometric properties of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale in a Hong Kong Chinese community sample

J Anxiety Disord. 2011 May;25(4):584-91. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.01.007. Epub 2011 Feb 2.

Abstract

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a widely used self-report anxiety scale-the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the associated parent-report version (PSCAS)-in a Hong Kong Chinese community sample. While good psychometric properties of SCAS and PSCAS had been documented in Western cultural contexts (e.g., Australia), no systematic psychometric evaluation of the Chinese-translated SCAS and PSCAS has been published. In this study, psychometric properties of SCAS and PSCAS were examined with respect to four criteria: (a) factor structure, (b) descriptive statistics, (c) convergent validity with an anxiety cognition measure, and (d) internal consistency. Psychometric properties of SCAS and PSCAS for a Chinese community sample were found to be highly comparable with those published on Australian samples, thus providing a solid conceptual foundation for use of the Chinese version of SCAS and PSCAS.

MeSH terms

  • Affect
  • Anxiety / diagnosis*
  • Anxiety / psychology
  • Anxiety Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Anxiety Disorders / psychology
  • Asian People
  • Child
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • Hong Kong
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Psychometrics
  • Self Report
  • Surveys and Questionnaires