Spanish validation of the Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale

• Published in: Child : care, health & development Vol. 44; no. 5; pp. 753 - 758
• Main Authors: Orgilés, Mireia, Penosa, Patricia, Fernández‐Martínez, Iván, Marzo, Juan C., Espada, José P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-2018
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety - diagnosis; Anxiety - psychology; Child, Preschool; Convergent validity; Cronbach's alpha; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Humans; Male; Preschool Anxiety Scale; Preschool children; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; psychometric properties; Psychometrics - methods; Quality of Life; Quantitative psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Spain - epidemiology; Spanish language; Symptoms; Translations; Validity; Spain; preschool children; anxiety; psychometric properties; Preschool Anxiety Scale
• ISSN: 0305-1862; 1365-2214
• DOI: 10.1111/cch.12593

Background
The Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) is a 28‐item measure designed to assess anxiety symptoms in preschoolers aged 31 to 83 months.
Methods
The present study aims to extend the literature by examining the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the PAS in a Spanish community sample of 274 preschoolers aged 3 to 7 years.
Results
Factor analysis confirmed the five‐factor original model after removing eight items, suggesting a shorter 20‐item version for the Spanish preschoolers. The scale demonstrated to have good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.84). Moderate but significant correlations with a measure of health‐related quality of life supported the convergent validity of the PAS.
Conclusions
The Spanish version of the PAS demonstrated to have good psychometric properties, providing these results initial support to its use for assessing a broad range of anxiety symptoms in Spanish‐speaking preschoolers.