Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

SPENCE CHILDREN'S ANXIETY SCALE

By Mia D.

Procedures

Strengths & Limitations

References

  • Administering:
  • Child is asked to read and follow the instructions on the test and rate on a 4-point scale: 'never', 'sometimes', 'often', or 'always' to indicate frequency of each item.
  • Response is indicated by circling appropriate word (never, sometimes, often, always).
  • No time frame is set to complete the test, though it usually takes < 30 minutes.
  • Scoring:
  • 38 items are scored (minus 6 filler items)
  • Possible responses are:
  • Never = 0
  • Sometimes = 1
  • Often = 2
  • Always = 3
  • Maximum possible score = 114.
  • Overall scoring: subscale scores are added together for overall score.
  • Subscale scoring: subscales are scored separately for specific sub-construct scores.
  • Interpretation:
  • Scores are interpreted differently depending on a child's age and gender (normative data chart).
  • Example: for boys and girls aged 8-11, a T-score of 50 +/- 10 is considered in the average range for anxiety.
  • A T-score of 60 and above indicates elevated anxiety - clinical interviews are necessary for further information.

Ahlen, J., Vigerland, S., & Ghaderi, A. (2018, June). Development of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale - Short Version (SCAS-S). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 40(2), 288-304.

Arendt, K., Hougaard, E., & Thastum, M. (2014). Psychometric properties of the child and parent versions of Spence children's anxiety scale in a Danish community and clinical sample. J Anxiety Disord, 28(8), 947-956

Brown-Jacobsen, A. M., Wallace, D. P., & Whiteside, S. P. (2011). Multimethod, multi-informant agreement, and positive predictive value in the identification of child anxiety disorders using the SCAS and ADIS-C. Assessment, 18(3), 382-392

Di Riso, D., Chessa, D., Bobbio, A., & Lis, A. (2013). Factorial Structure of the SCAS and Its Relationship With the SDQ. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 29(1), 28-35.

Jitlina, K., Zumbo, B., Mirenda, P., Ford, L., Bennett, T., Georgiades, S., . . . Elsabbagh, M. (2017). Psychometric Properties of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale: Parent Report in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Muris, P., Schmidt, H., & Merckelbach, H. (2000). Correlations among two self-report questionnaires for measuring DSM-defined anxiety disorder symptoms in children: The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 28(2), 333-346.

Muris, P., Merckelbach, H., Ollendick, T., King, N., & Bogie, N. (2002). Three traditional and three new childhood anxiety questionnaires: Their reliability and validity in a normal adolescent sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(7), 753-772.

Posada, M. (2004). Ethical Issues in Assessments with Infants and Children. Graduate Student Journal of Psychology, 6, 42-48.

Ramme, R. (n.d.). Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale: An Overview of Psychometric Findings. Retrieved from Spence Children's Anxiety Scale: https://www.scaswebsite.com/docs/Ramme%20SCAS%20Psychomet%20evidence.pdf

Spence, S. H., Barrett, P. M., & Turner, C. M. (2003). Psychometric properties of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale with young adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 17(6), 605-625

Spence, S. H. (1998). A measure of anxiety symptoms among children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(5), 545-566.

Spence, S. H. (n.d.). Spence Children's Anxiety Scale Website - Information for Researchers and Practitioners. Retrieved from Spence Children's Anxiety Scale: https://www.scaswebsite.com/

Whiteside, S. P., Gryczkowski, M. R., Biggs, B. K., Fagen, R., & Owusu, D. (2012). Validation of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale's obsessive compulsive subscale in a clinical and community sample. J Anxiety Disord, 26(1), 111-116.

  • Strengths
  • Translated into 33 languages.
  • Reliable for cross-cultural use (measured by 30+ studies).
  • Items on the scale are defined via examples, for further clarity.
  • 6 items that prevent negative response bias.
  • Limitations
  • Uses DSM-IV as a reference guide - possibly outdated information.
  • If used alone, not sufficient for diagnosis.

Validity

(Spence, n.d.)

Issues of Standardization

Overview

  • The SCAS is Criterion-referenced because it is aligned with Anxiety Disorder criteria in the DSM-IV.
  • Normative data shows that girls score higher than boys, and that scores decrease for both genders, with age.

(Spence, n.d.)

Clinical Applications

  • Used in clinical contexts for assessment and therapy evaluation purposes.
  • Not designed to be diagnostic instrument when used alone. It is meant to assist the diagnostic process in conjunction with clinical interviews.
  • Can be used to assess treatment outcome (evaluating the impact of therapy and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents).
  • The scale has also been used for preventative measures by identifying children at risk of developing anxiety-related problems.
  • Used in research studies to examine the structure of anxiety symptoms and as an indicator of anxiety.
  • Construct: 30+ international studies support the originally proposed SCAS structure and indicate good accuracy - though some changes were necessary for particular cross-cultural contexts (Muris, Schmidt, and Merckelbach, 2000; Spence, 1998; & Whiteside, Gryczkowski, Biggs, Fagen, and Owusu, 2012).
  • Convergent: There are strong correlations between the total SCAS score and the SCARED (r= .85-.89), the RCMAS (r = .71), the MASC (r = .71), and the FSSC-R (r = .76) (Brown-Jacobsen, Wallace, and Whiteside, 2011; & Whiteside, Gryczkowski, Biggs, Fagen, and Owusu, 2012)
  • Divergent/Discriminant: Lower correlations (r = <0.34) were found between the SCAS and the Aggressive Behavior Externalizing Problems and Rule-Breaking Behavior scales, supporting divergent/discriminant validity (Jitlina et al., 2017).
  • Content Validity: the SCAS represents all facets of anxiety as per the DSM-IV (subscales).
  • Face Validity: the SCAS measures as it is supposed to.

Ethical Considerations

Reliability

(Spence, n.d.)

  • Purpose:
  • To assess the severity of anxiety symptoms in children, as per the DSM-IV criteria for Anxiety Disorder.
  • Development:
  • Developed by psychologist, Susan Spence, in 1998 - initially to assess children's anxiety in the general population.
  • Scale was formulated through a review of pre-existing literature.
  • Initially, a pool of 80 scale items was created to reflect a broad spectrum of anxiety symptoms.
  • Items pertaining to a specific trauma or medical condition were deleted.
  • Expertise of 4 psychologists who specialized in anxiety disorders, existing child anxiety assessment measures, structured clinical interviews, and the DSM diagnostic criteria, was used.
  • The pool of 80 items was eventually finalized to 44, and underwent extensive pilot testing.

Design

Cultural Considerations

  • Consent
  • Parental consent must be attained when working with young children.
  • Separation from guardian(s)
  • Children should not be separated from parents during assessment when detrimental to reliability of results.
  • Children's Rights
  • Rights to inclusion - important to include children in 'assent' process, which includes them in decision-making process around assessment.
  • Multi-faceted Assessment
  • Important for children to be observed over time for complete picture; important to administer assessment via a variety of methods - testing plus clinical interviewing, for more comprehensive information.
  • Internal Consistency: the SCAS was tested across a wide range of studies and shows a high internal consistency (α = .87-.94) (Arendt, Hougaard, and Thastum, 2014; Brown-Jacobsen, Wallace, and Whiteside, 2011; Di Riso, Chessa, Bobbio, and Lis, 2013; & Spence, Barrett, and Turner, 2003).
  • Internal consistency of the subscales ranges from satisfactory to high (α = .48 - .81). Physical Injury Fears subscale = outlier with the lowest internal consistency of .48 (Arendt, Hougaard, and Thastum 2014; Muris, Merckelbach, Ollendick, King, and Bogie, 2002; & Spence, Barrett, and Turner, 2003).
  • Test-retest reliability: Analyses showed a 6-month test-retest reliability coefficient of .60; and a 3-month of .63 (Spence, 1998; & Spence, Barrett, and Turner, 2003).
  • Child version/parent version: tests are the same, but formatted via 1st/3rd person questioning.
  • Pre-school version/pre-school teacher version: developed later; varies from SCAS and used to assess anxiety symptoms in pre-school children*
  • The SCAS is a self-report measure.
  • 44 items (38) - rated on 4 point Likert scale:
  • 6 relate to (positive) filler items to reduce negative response bias (not scored).
  • 6 reflect separation anxiety.
  • 6 social phobia.
  • 6 obsessive compulsive problems.
  • 6 panic/3 agoraphobia.
  • 6 generalized anxiety/overanxious symptoms.
  • 5 items concern fears of physical injury.
  • Translated into 33 languages.
  • Evaluated in 30+ studies across a wide range of countries (ie: Australia, China, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, England, Germany, Greece, and Italy).
  • Recent systematic review by Orgiles et al. (2016) deemed SCAS a reliable instrument suitable for cross-cultural use.
  • Though some alterations have been suggested in certain cross-cultural contexts.

(Spence, n.d.)

(Posada, 2004)

(Spence, n.d.)

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi