Spence Children’S Anxiety Scale Through Parent Report: Psychometric Properties in A Community Sample of Iranian Children

This study examined the psychometric properties of the parent version of the spence children’s anxiety scale [scas-p] as part of the process of developing the spence children’s anxiety scale for parents in a community sample of iranian children; 315 mothers and children aged six to ten years participated in the study. the results of confirmatory factor analysis provided support for six inter-correlated factors, that corresponded with the child self-report as well as with the classification of anxiety disorders by dsm-iv namely separation anxiety, generalized anxiety, social phobia, panic/agoraphobia, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and fear of physical injuries. the scas-p demonstrated moderate to high internal consistency (alpha = 0.65–0.89) and test–retest reliability (interclass correlation coefficients = 0.39–0.68 over 2 weeks). evidence was found for both convergent and divergent validity: the measure correlated well with the parent report for internalizing symptoms, and lower with externalizing symptoms. a manova indicated no significant gender or age differences for the total scale score or any subscale scores. the scas-p is recommended as a screening instrument for normal children.