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Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 6/2008

01-09-2008 | ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Psychometric properties and diagnostic ability of the separation anxiety scale for children (SASC)

Authors: Xavier Méndez, PhD, José P. Espada, PhD, Mireia Orgilés, PhD, Maria D. Hidalgo, PhD, José M. García-Fernández, PhD

Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | Issue 6/2008

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Abstract

This research describes the psychometric properties of a new child self-report measure, the separation anxiety scale for children (SASC), which assesses the frequency of symptoms of separation anxiety in children from 8 to 11. The factor solution with a sample of 1,201 children from 8 to 11, isolated three factors, discomfort from separation, worry about separation, and calm at separation, tested by confirmatory factor analysis, which accounted for 32.80% of the total variance. Results indicated that the SASC has a high internal consistency (α = 0.83). The results revealed a high test-retest reliability of the instrument, and a high number of correctly diagnosed cases. The correlation of scores with other anxiety measures shows that the variable most associated with separation anxiety is trait–anxiety.
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Metadata
Title
Psychometric properties and diagnostic ability of the separation anxiety scale for children (SASC)
Authors
Xavier Méndez, PhD
José P. Espada, PhD
Mireia Orgilés, PhD
Maria D. Hidalgo, PhD
José M. García-Fernández, PhD
Publication date
01-09-2008
Publisher
D. Steinkopff-Verlag
Published in
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry / Issue 6/2008
Print ISSN: 1018-8827
Electronic ISSN: 1435-165X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-008-0678-8

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