Development and validation of a short form of the Chinese version of the State Anxiety Scale for Children

Background There is a lack of a simplified instrument for use in busy clinical settings to measure and differentiate anxiety levels of children. Objectives To develop a short form of the Chinese version of the State Anxiety Scale for Children (CSAS-C) and test psychometric properties of the new form. Design The study was divided into two phases with phase one aimed at developing a short form of the CSAS-C, while phase two aimed at testing psychometric properties of the new form. A test–retest, within-subjects design was employed. Children (7–12 years of age) admitted for surgery in a day surgery unit during two consecutive years’ summer holiday were invited to participate in the study. In phase one, selected participants (N=112) were asked to respond to the CSAS-C. In phase two, selected participants (N=82) were asked to respond to the short form of the CSAS-C. Results Using exploratory factor analysis, a subset of 10 items, which was highly correlated with scores obtained from the full form (r=0.92) and, which had acceptable internal consistency (r=0.83) was developed. The psychometric properties of this short form have been empirically tested, showing adequate internal consistency reliability, good concurrent validity, and excellent construct validity. Conclusion This study addresses a gap in the literature by developing a 10-item short form of the CSAS-C. Results indicate that this short form is an appropriate and objective assessment tool for measuring anxiety levels of Chinese children in a busy clinical setting where time constraints make unfeasible the use of the full form.