Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS)

Abstract

The Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS), developed by Susan H. Spence in 1998, is a widely utilized self-report instrument designed to measure the severity of anxiety symptoms in children. It uniquely addresses shortcomings in earlier child anxiety measures, which often failed to differentiate symptoms specific to various anxiety disorders or were merely downward extensions of adult scales. The SCAS is structured around six distinct diagnostic domains, aligning closely with criteria outlined in the DSM-IV. It consists of 44 items and is quick to administer, providing both a total anxiety score and specific subscale scores useful for clinical assessment, identification of children at risk, and monitoring treatment outcomes.

Keywords

SCAS, Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale, Child Anxiety, Self-Report Measure, Separation Anxiety, Social Phobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic Agoraphobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Psychometrics

Authors

Susan H. Spence

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) is to provide a comprehensive and psychometrically robust measure of anxiety symptoms in children that is specifically tailored to reflect contemporary diagnostic classifications. Unlike previous instruments, the SCAS was intentionally constructed to capture symptom profiles related to specific anxiety disorders, thereby facilitating more precise clinical assessment and differentiation among various forms of childhood anxiety. It is used in clinical and research settings for three main goals: initial assessment, identification of children at elevated risk for developing anxiety problems, and monitoring the effectiveness of intervention programs over time. The scale is freely available, promoting its widespread use in mental health services.

Construct

The SCAS measures the psychological construct of childhood anxiety as manifested across six distinct, yet related, diagnostic domains. This multidimensional approach allows clinicians to identify specific areas of distress rather than just a generalized level of anxiety. The six domains measured by the 44 items are:

• Separation Anxiety: Worry and distress related to being away from parents or primary caregivers.
• Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder): Fear and avoidance of social or performance situations.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Symptoms related to intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.
• Panic/Agoraphobia: Experiences of panic symptoms and associated fear of situations where escape might be difficult.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Excessive, uncontrollable worry across multiple domains.
• Fears of Physical Injury: Specific anxieties related to injury, pain, or health concerns.

Validity

The validity of the SCAS is strongly supported by its design and empirical correlations. Its content validity is high, as the instrument’s 38 core items were explicitly developed to be consistent with the symptomology of specific anxiety disorders delineated in the DSM-IV classification system. This alignment ensures that the scale is measuring the intended diagnostic constructs.

Furthermore, convergent validity was established by demonstrating a significant positive correlation between the SCAS total score and the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), with a coefficient of .71. This strong correlation confirms that the SCAS measures a construct highly similar to that measured by established anxiety scales, while offering the enhanced advantage of subscale specificity.

Reliability

The SCAS demonstrates strong evidence of internal consistency and acceptable test-retest reliability. The internal consistency for the total scale is exceptionally high, reported at .92, confirming that the collection of items reliably measures the same overall anxiety construct. Internal consistency for the individual subscales is also acceptable, though more variable:

• Panic-Agoraphobia: .82
• Obsessive-Compulsive: .73
• Generalised Anxiety: .73
• Separation Anxiety: .70
• Social Phobia: .70
• Physical Injury Fears: .60

Test-retest reliability was assessed over a six-month interval in a sample of 344 children, yielding a coefficient of .60 for the total score. This indicates reasonably high stability for the overall anxiety measure over a half-year period. However, test-retest reliabilities for the individual subscales were generally lower, suggesting that children’s self-reported anxiety symptoms related to specific domains may fluctuate more significantly over a protracted period.

Factor Analysis

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed during the validation process to examine the internal structure of the SCAS. The results of the CFA strongly supported the hypothesized six-factor model, corresponding precisely to the six anxiety domains the scale was designed to measure. This finding confirms the structural integrity of the SCAS, demonstrating that the individual items reliably load onto the factors they are intended to assess, thereby validating the scale’s ability to differentiate between specific anxiety types.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire (Child version); Parent, Preschool, and Adolescent versions also available.

Format: 44 items (38 anxiety symptoms, 6 positive filler items) rated on a 4-point frequency scale.

Language Available: English (Numerous international translations have also been validated).

Population Group: Children and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically 8–12 years for the original normative sample; extended versions cover preschool through adolescence.

Population Details: Normative data was acquired from a major sample of 2,052 children, aged 8–12 years, recruited from primary schools in Brisbane, Australia.

Test Methodology: Participants rate the frequency of experiencing each symptom using a 4-point scale: Never, Sometimes, Often, and Always. Administration time is approximately 10 minutes. Scoring involves summing item scores within each subscale; a total anxiety score is calculated by summing all subscale scores. A T-score of 60 or above is generally indicative of sub-clinical or elevated levels of anxiety, warranting further clinical investigation.

Keywords

SCAS, Psychological Assessment, Child Mental Health, Psychodiagnostics, Six-Factor Model, OCD, Separation Anxiety, Clinical Interview, Reliability, Validity

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in the source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in the source content.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in the source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) is freely available for use by researchers and clinicians. The original self-report measure was developed and published in 1998. Since then, several adapted versions have been developed and validated, including a parent-report measure (2004), a pre-school version (2001), and an adolescent version (2003). While the SCAS is an effective screening and monitoring tool, the developers explicitly stipulate that a formal diagnosis should only be made in conjunction with a structured clinical interview.

Reference’s

• Nauta, M. H., Scholing, A., Rapee, R. M., Abbott, M., Spence, S. H., & Waters, A. (2004). A parent-report measure of children’s anxiety: psychometric properties and comparison with child-report in a clinic and normal sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42(7), 813-839. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7967(03)00200-6
• Spence, S. H. (1998). A measure of anxiety symptoms among children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(5), 545-566. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00034-5
• 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. doi: 10.1016/S0887-6185(02)00236-0
• Spence, S. H., Rapee, R., McDonald, C., & Ingram, M. (2001). The structure of anxiety symptoms among preschoolers. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39(11), 1293-1316.

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

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

Sample items from the separation anxiety subscale include:

• “I worry about being away from my parents”
• “I feel scared if I have to sleep on my own”

Sample items from the obsessive-compulsive subscale include:

• “I have to keep checking that I have done things right (like the switch is off, or the door is locked)”
• “I have to do some things in just the right way to stop bad things happening”

A positive, filler item designed to reduce negative response bias is:

• “I am the most popular amongst other kids my own age”