The psychometric properties of the screen for child anxiety related emotional disorders in pediatric chronic pain.

OBJECTIVE

Examine the psychometric properties of the SCARED in pediatric chronic pain.

METHODS

Participants were parents (n = 313 mothers, 163 fathers) and youth (n = 349) presenting for treatment of pediatric chronic pain. Participants completed the SCARED and measures of pain catastrophizing, internalizing problems, and health-related quality of life.

RESULTS

Internal consistency (Cronbach's α) of SCARED Total scores ranged from .92 to .93 across sources of report. All subscales except for School Phobia exhibited good internal consistency. SCARED scores were significantly positively related to internalizing symptoms and pain catastrophizing; and negatively related to health-related quality of life. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed acceptable fit of the SCARED measurement model.

CONCLUSIONS

The SCARED shows promise as a measure of anxiety in pediatric pain. Important caveats for its usage and areas in need of additional research are discussed. Of importance in pediatric pain is improving current approaches for measuring school anxiety in this population.