Psychometric Properties of the Dutch Child Avoidance Measure

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Avoidance behaviors are a key indicator of child anxiety.
• Existing measures for child anxiety avoidance are limited in convenience and scope.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Child Avoidance Measure (CAM) in a Dutch population.
• To assess the reliability and validity of both child and parent versions of the CAM.

Main Methods:

• The study involved children aged 8-13 from a community sample (n=63) and a high-anxious sample (n=92).
• Psychometric properties, including internal consistency and test-retest reliability, were analyzed for both child and parent versions.

Main Results:

• The child-version of the CAM showed acceptable to good internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability.
• High-anxious children scored significantly higher on avoidance than community-based children.
• The parent-version exhibited excellent internal consistency and test-retest validity.

Conclusions:

• The CAM is a psychometrically sound and useful tool for measuring child anxiety avoidance in Dutch populations.
• Further research should explore the CAM's properties in clinical samples and its ecological validity.