Psychometric Properties of Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children-Parent Form

Anxiety is one of the common problems of childhood which, if not treated, may be associated with problems such as depression, substance abuse, suicide, academic problems, low participation in school activities, bullying, and reduced enjoyment of academic and social aspects. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the second edition of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children-Parent Form (MASC2-P).

This was an applied research in terms of purpose, and a psychometric study in terms of methodology. The statistical population included all parents of students aged 10 to 18 years in districts 2, 4, 7, and 12 of Tehran, Iran, that 425 people (183 men and 242 women) were selected as the sample by available sampling method and responded to the MASC2-P. To investigate the validity of the construct, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using LISREL software, and to investigate the reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and omega coefficient were used using SPSS software.

The results of CFA showed that this scale using 50 items measured 8 factors of injury avoidance, stress and restlessness, panic, obsessive-compulsive disorder, functional fears, ridicule and rejection, generalized anxiety, and separation anxiety. Fit indices of chi-square to degree of freedom (χ2/df) ratio, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), parsimonious normed fit index (PNFI), comparative fit index (CFI), normed fit index (NFI), non-normed fit index (NNFI), incremental fit index (IFI), and relative fit index (RFI) were obtained 2.93, 0.07, 0.86, 0.95, 0.92, 0.94, 0.95, and 0.92, respectively. Cronbach’s alpha and omega coefficients for all factors were greater than 0.83.

MASC2-P is a suitable tool to identify and screen the anxiety of children and adolescents.