Children's separation anxiety scale (CSAS): psychometric properties

Xavier Méndez; José P Espada; Mireia Orgilés; Luis M Llavona; José M García-Fernández

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103212

Children's separation anxiety scale (CSAS): psychometric properties

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 29;9(7):e103212. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103212. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Xavier Méndez¹, José P Espada², Mireia Orgilés², Luis M Llavona³, José M García-Fernández⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
² Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Spain.
³ Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment (Clinical Psychology), Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.
⁴ Department of Developmental Psychology and Teaching, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain.

Abstract

This study describes the psychometric properties of the Children's Separation Anxiety Scale (CSAS), which assesses separation anxiety symptoms in childhood. Participants in Study 1 were 1,908 schoolchildren aged between 8 and 11. Exploratory factor analysis identified four factors: worry about separation, distress from separation, opposition to separation, and calm at separation, which explained 46.91% of the variance. In Study 2, 6,016 children aged 8-11 participated. The factor model in Study 1 was validated by confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency (α = 0.82) and temporal stability (r = 0.83) of the instrument were good. The convergent and discriminant validity were evaluated by means of correlations with other measures of separation anxiety, childhood anxiety, depression and anger. Sensitivity of the scale was 85% and its specificity, 95%. The results support the reliability and validity of the CSAS.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Age Factors
Anxiety, Separation / diagnosis*
Anxiety, Separation / psychology*
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Psychometrics*
ROC Curve
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Sex Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Spanish National Plan for Research, Development and Technological Innovation Grant (EDU2008-05060) awarded to Xavier Méndez, and by BANCAJA-UMH Grant (2007-2009), awarded to Mireia Orgilés. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.