Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child)

Name: Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child)
Rating: 5 (69 reviews)
Author: Mohammed looti

Mohammed looti

Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child)

By Mohammed looti / October 27, 2025

Table of Contents

Abstract

The Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child Version (SCAS-Child) is a robust 45-item self-report scale utilized to quantify the severity of anxiety symptoms in children ranging from 8 to 15 years of age. This measure is designed to assess six distinct domains of childhood anxiety that correspond to major diagnostic categories, including separation anxiety, social phobia, obsessive compulsive problems, panic/agoraphobia, generalised anxiety/overanxious symptoms, and fears of physical injury. Although the SCAS-Child is not intended for use as a primary diagnostic tool, it serves as an invaluable instrument in both clinical and non-clinical settings for evaluating baseline symptom presentation and monitoring changes resulting from anxiety interventions over time.

Keywords

Anxiety symptoms, Child assessment, SCAS, Self-report, Pediatric psychology, Separation anxiety, Social phobia, Obsessive compulsive problems.

Authors

Spence, S.H.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the SCAS-Child is to provide a comprehensive and psychometrically sound method for assessing the severity and profile of specific anxiety symptoms experienced by children and young adolescents. By utilizing a multi-dimensional approach, the scale allows for the measurement of anxiety constructs that align closely with established clinical classifications.

The instrument is widely used in clinical practice for screening purposes and, more importantly, for tracking therapeutic progress. In research, it provides standardized data crucial for comparative studies and evaluating the efficacy of psychological treatments aimed at reducing childhood anxiety, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Construct

The SCAS-Child measures the psychological construct of childhood anxiety, segmented into six empirically derived subscales. These subscales are designed to capture the heterogeneity of anxiety disorders as defined in clinical nosology. The six core dimensions assessed are:

Separation Anxiety: Distress related to separation from major attachment figures.
Social Phobia: Fear of social situations, performance, or negative evaluation by others.
Obsessive Compulsive Problems: Presence of intrusive thoughts (obsessions) or repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
Panic/Agoraphobia: Symptoms related to unexpected panic attacks and fear of situations where escape might be difficult.
Fears of Physical Injury: Specific phobias related to bodily harm, medical procedures, or specific animals/situations.
Generalised Anxiety/Overanxious Symptoms: Excessive, pervasive worry about future events or competence.

Validity

The SCAS-Child has demonstrated strong psychometric properties, initially validated in a sample of Australian children. The scale established robust convergent validity, showing significant positive correlations with other standardized instruments designed to measure child anxiety. This confirms that the SCAS measures the intended construct effectively.

Furthermore, the SCAS exhibited discriminant validity, differentiating accurately between anxiety symptoms and symptoms of related conditions, such as child depressive symptoms. Validation studies consistently reported significantly higher total and subscale scores among clinically anxious children compared to non-clinical control groups, affirming its utility in clinical differentiation.

Reliability

Although specific internal consistency coefficients (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) are detailed in the primary validation papers (Spence, 1998; Spence et al., 2003), the overall robust structure and wide acceptance of the SCAS-Child suggest high reliability. The stability of the six-factor model across various populations indicates that the scale consistently measures the specific anxiety domains over time and across different samples, supporting its use in longitudinal treatment monitoring.

Factor Analysis

The structural integrity of the SCAS-Child is supported by a confirmatory factor-analytic study (Spence, 1997). This research confirmed that the 45 scored items load reliably onto the hypothesized six factors, providing empirical evidence for the scale’s multi-dimensional structure. This six-factor model aligns conceptually with major diagnostic classifications of anxiety disorders, ensuring that the subscales capture clinically meaningful distinctions.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report scale

Format: 46 total items, 45 of which are scored, utilizing a 4-point Likert scale (0=Never, 1=Sometimes, 2=Often, 3=Always).

Language Available: English (The scale has been translated and validated in numerous languages globally).

Population Group: Children and young adolescents.

Age Group: 8-15 years.

Population Details: Originally standardized and validated in Australia; used internationally for clinical assessment and research.

Test Methodology: Children respond to items based on how often each event or feeling happens to them. Scores are summed to produce a total score (range 0–114) and six subscale scores. Scores are often converted to percentiles based on normative data, with a percentile exceeding 84 typically indicating clinically significant anxiety symptoms.

Keywords

Psychological assessment, Child mental health, Generalized anxiety, Social anxiety, Scale interpretation, Psychometrics, Clinical screening.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source.

Correspondence Address: Refer to the official SCAS website for current contact details: www.scaswebsite.com

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale development was grounded in research published in 1997 and 1998. The most comprehensive psychometric validation for young adolescents was published in 2003. Information regarding official permissions, licensing fees, and access to the manual and scoring keys must be obtained directly from the intellectual property holders via the official website: www.scaswebsite.com.

Reference’s

Spence, S.H. (1997). Structure of anxiety symptoms among children: A confirmatory factor-analytic study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(2), 280-297.

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

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. (Access online information at: http://www.scaswebsite.com/)

Items of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS- Child)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Please tap to button to show how often each of these things happen to you. There are no right or wrong answers.

		Never	Sometimes	Often	Always
1	I worry about things	0	1	2	3
2	I am scared of the dark	0	1	2	3
3	When I have a problem, I get a funny feeling in my stomach	0	1	2	3
4	I feel afraid	0	1	2	3
5	I would feel afraid of being on my own at home	0	1	2	3
6	I feel scared when I have to take a test	0	1	2	3
7	I feel afraid if I have to use public toilets or bathrooms	0	1	2	3
8	I worry about being away from my parents	0	1	2	3
9	I feel afraid that I will make a fool of myself in front of people	0	1	2	3
10	I worry that I will do badly at my school work	0	1	2	3
11	I am popular amongst other kids my own age	0	1	2	3
12	I worry that something awful will happen to someone in my family	0	1	2	3
13	I suddenly feel as if I can’t breathe when there is no reason for this	0	1	2	3
14	I have to keep checking that I have done things right (like the switch is off, or the door is locked)	0	1	2	3
15	I feel scared if I have to sleep on my own	0	1	2	3
16	I have trouble going to school in the mornings because I feel nervous or afraid	0	1	2	3

		Never	Sometimes	Often	Always
17	I am good at sports	0	1	2	3
18	I am scared of dogs	0	1	2	3
19	I can’t seem to get bad or silly thoughts out of my head	0	1	2	3
20	When I have a problem, my heart beats really fast	0	1	2	3
21	I suddenly start to tremble or shake when there is no reason for this	0	1	2	3
22	I worry that something bad will happen to me	0	1	2	3
23	I am scared of going to the doctors or dentists	0	1	2	3
24	When I have a problem, I feel shaky	0	1	2	3
25	I am scared of being in high places or lifts (elevators)	0	1	2	3
26	I am a good person	0	1	2	3
27	I have to think of special thoughts to stop bad things from happening (like numbers or words)	0	1	2	3
28	I feel scared if I have to travel in the car, or on a Bus or a train	0	1	2	3
29	I worry what other people think of me	0	1	2	3
30	I am afraid of being in crowded places (like shopping centres, the movies, buses, busy playgrounds)	0	1	2	3
31	I feel happy	0	1	2	3
32	All of a sudden I feel really scared for no reason at all	0	1	2	3
33	I am scared of insects or spiders	0	1	2	3
34	I suddenly become dizzy or faint when there is no reason for this	0	1	2	3
35	I feel afraid if I have to talk in front of my class	0	1	2	3
36	My heart suddenly starts to beat too quickly for no reason	0	1	2	3

	Never	Sometimes	Often	Always
I worry that I will suddenly get a scared feeling when there is nothing to be afraid of (Item 37)	0	1	2	3
I like myself (Item 38)	0	1	2	3
I am afraid of being in small closed places, like tunnels or small rooms (Item 39)	0	1	2	3
I have to do some things over and over again (like washing my hands, cleaning or putting things in a certain order) (Item 40)	0	1	2	3
I get bothered by bad or silly thoughts or pictures in my mind (Item 41)	0	1	2	3
I have to do some things in just the right way to stop bad things happening (Item 42)	0	1	2	3
I am proud of my school work (Item 43)	0	1	2	3
I would feel scared if I had to stay away from home overnight (Item 44)	0	1	2	3
Is there something else that you are really afraid of? (Item 45)
0 Yes
0 No
If you are afraid of something else please write down what it is. How often are you afraid of this thing? (Item 46)

Cite this article

APAMLACHICAGOHARVARDIEEEAMA

Mohammed looti (2025). Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child). Psychological Scales & Instruments Database. Retrieved from https://db.arabpsychology.com/scales/spence-childrens-anxiety-scale-child-scas-child/

Mohammed looti. "Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child)." Psychological Scales & Instruments Database, 27 Oct. 2025, https://db.arabpsychology.com/scales/spence-childrens-anxiety-scale-child-scas-child/.

Mohammed looti. "Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child)." Psychological Scales & Instruments Database, 2025. https://db.arabpsychology.com/scales/spence-childrens-anxiety-scale-child-scas-child/.

Mohammed looti (2025) 'Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child)', Psychological Scales & Instruments Database. Available at: https://db.arabpsychology.com/scales/spence-childrens-anxiety-scale-child-scas-child/.

[1] Mohammed looti, "Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child)," Psychological Scales & Instruments Database, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, October, 2025.

Mohammed looti. Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale – Child (SCAS-Child). Psychological Scales & Instruments Database. 2025;vol(issue):pages.