The Children's Headache Assessment Scale (CHAS): factor structure and psychometric properties

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Behavioral Medicine

Background:

• Childhood headaches are prevalent and can be influenced by environmental factors.
• Accurate assessment tools are crucial for effective diagnosis and treatment of pediatric headaches.
• The Children's Headache Assessment Scale (CHAS) was developed to address this need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the content validity, factor structure, and psychometric properties of the Children's Headache Assessment Scale (CHAS).
• To refine the CHAS through expert input and parent administration.
• To establish the reliability and validity of the CHAS for assessing environmental variables in pediatric headache.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Expert review (physicians, psychologists) to revise and select 44 items for the CHAS.
• Study 2: Administration of the revised CHAS to parents of 92 children (ages 6-16) with headaches, with a 2-week retest.
• Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the scale's underlying structure.

Main Results:

• An exploratory factor analysis identified five distinct factors: Disruptive Impact, Social Consequences, Stress Antecedents, Physical Antecedents and Quiet Coping, and Prescription Medication Use.
• The scale demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (alpha coefficients ranging from .64 to .82).
• Test-retest reliability indicated stable factors and items over a 2-week period. High scores on the Disruptive Impact factor correlated with more severe headache characteristics.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the clinical and research utility of the CHAS.
• The CHAS provides a reliable and valid measure for identifying environmental factors associated with pediatric headaches.
• The scale is a valuable tool for guiding behavioral treatment strategies for childhood headaches.