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The Parent Sensitivity to Child Anxiety Index
Karl Wissemann1, Julia Y Gorday2, Alexandria Meyer2
1Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA. wissemann@psy.fsu.edu.
Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|March 16, 2018
Summary
This study introduces the Parent Sensitivity to Child Anxiety Index (PSCAI) to measure how parents perceive their child's anxiety. The PSCAI is a reliable tool for understanding parental anxiety sensitivity and its impact on child anxiety development.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a recognized risk factor for anxiety disorders.
- Existing measures of AS focus on adults and children, not parental perceptions of child anxiety.
- Parental sensitivity to child anxiety symptoms has not been previously defined or measured.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and psychometrically evaluate a novel measure of parental sensitivity to child anxiety symptoms.
- To establish the construct validity and reliability of the Parent Sensitivity to Child Anxiety Index (PSCAI).
Main Methods:
- Development and validation of the Parent Sensitivity to Child Anxiety Index (PSCAI).
- Factor analysis to determine the underlying structure of the PSCAI.
- Internal consistency and correlational analyses with related parental constructs.
Main Results:
- Factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure for the PSCAI: concern for physical symptoms, social evaluation, and fear of anxiety symptoms.
- The PSCAI demonstrated good internal consistency.
- PSCAI scores were positively correlated with parental accommodation, parental anxiety sensitivity, and trait anxiety.
Conclusions:
- The PSCAI is a psychometrically sound measure for assessing parental sensitivity to child anxiety.
- This new measure facilitates research into the early development of anxiety disorders.
- The PSCAI may inform the development of novel, targeted interventions for pediatric anxiety.
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