confirmatory Factor structure and psychometric properties of adult version of Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-A)

Because of the high prevalence of anxiety disorders and the heavy costs they impose on individuals and society, devising appropriate tools for the screening and early diagnosis of such disorders is imperative. This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties and the confirmatory factor structure of the adult version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-A). The research population consisted of all adults residing in the city of Yazd. A text message containing a link to the online questionnaire was sent 1000 residents over the age of 18 using the multistage random sampling method. As a result, 210 analyzable questionnaires were obtained. Internal consistency was 0/941 for the whole scale and 0/612 and 0/876 for its subscales respectively. SCARED-A test-retest reliability coefficient was also acceptable within two weeks. SCARED-A indicates a significant correlation with the trait version of STAI, which supports the convergent validity of this questionnaire. According to the results of confirmatory factor analysis, such as the factor loadings of each item in relation to its structure, the cross loading of each item in relation to all structures (subscales), composite reliability index, and AVE, some items were removed to modify the model. In the modified model, the factor loadings for all items were significant and above 0/65. In addition, the composite reliability indexes, AVE and GOF became acceptable. Because of the numerous advantages of SCARED-A, such as measuring all anxiety disorders and having a child version for intergenerational studies, we suggest that the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the questionnaire be evaluated in further studies.