Development of the Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale

Described the development of the Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale (CATIS), a short self-report instrument designed to provide a systematic assessment of how favorably or unfavorably children feel about having a chronic physical condition. Subjects were children (N = 269), ages 8-12 years, who had either epilepsy (n = 136) or asthma (n = 133). Results of confirmatory factor analysis and predicted relationships with scores on the Child Behavior Checklist and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale provided support for construct validity of the scale. Good internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also found.