Spanish validation of the parent version of the spence children’s anxiety scale (Scas-p) in a clinical sample

Abstract

The child version of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS-C) has demonstrated good psychometric properties, but research has scarcely focused on the parent version of the questionnaire (SCAS-P). We aimed to validate the Spanish version of the SCAS-P in a clinical sample (N= 137) of children and adolescents through their parents’ responses. The Spanish version of the SCAS-P showed good internal consistency for the total scale and for most subscales (Cronbach´s alpha between.49 y.83) and excellent test-retest reliability for all subscales (r between.71 and.91). Furthermore, convergent and divergent validity were supported by higher correlations with other measures of anxiety (r=.51), and lower correlations with measures of depression (r=.43) and externalizing problems (r=.34). For the first time in an exclusively clinical sample, the original factor structure of the SCAS-P based on six correlated factors was partially confirmed. The validation of the SCAS-P in a clinical sample provides professionals with a tool that better reflects the characteristics of their patients.