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

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.

Research highlights
► This study evaluated the psychometric properties of 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.
► The psychometric properties were evaluated based on the four criteria: (a) factor structure, (b) descriptive statistics, (c) convergent validity with an anxiety cognition measure, and (d) internal consistency.
► Our results were highly comparable with those published on Australian samples, thus providing a solid conceptual foundation for the use of the Chinese version of SCAS and PSCAS.