Psychometric properties of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS): Self- and parent-report versions

• The original six correlated factors model fit well the Brazilian version of the SCAS.
• There were good evidences of convergent and divergent validity, and internal consistency.
• There were significant informant and informant by anxiety dimension interaction effects on the SCAS scores.
• There were good evidences of discriminant validity considering a clinical sample.
• The SCAS is suitable to assess anxiety symptoms in Brazil in community and clinical settings.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) self- and parent-report versions in a community (n = 712) and a clinical (n = 70) sample of Brazilian children and adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted in the community sample provided support to the original six correlated factors model of the SCAS. Moreover, the SCAS demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and a significant informant effect on the total score with higher anxiety levels in the self-report than in the parent-report version. Considering the clinical sample, we could demonstrate that the SCAS total scores have good discriminant validity differentiating: (a) anxious, community, and negative screening groups; and (b) children diagnosed with different severity levels of anxiety disorders. Our findings suggest that the SCAS (self- and parent-report versions) is suitable for assessing anxiety symptoms in Brazilian children and adolescents in community and clinical settings.