Spanish version of the Children's Somatization Inventory: factorial structure and psychometric properties in a community sample.

BACKGROUND

The Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) has proved to be a suitable measure to assess somatic symptoms in pediatric patients, but additional research was needed to evaluate its psychometric properties in community populations.

PURPOSE

The objective of the present study was to examine psychometric properties and factorial structure of the instrument among a nonclinical sample of Spanish children.

METHOD

The 24-item version of the CSI and two self-report measures of anxiety and depression were administered to 1,111 Spanish children aged 8 to 12.

RESULTS

Exploratory analysis suggested a factorial structure composed of three factors: pseudoneurologic symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, and pain. Due to confirmatory analysis indicating a poor fit for the three-factor model, two alternative models were tested. A six-item single factor identified in a previous study with an American community sample showed the best fit (RMSEA = 0.04; GFI = 0.99; AGFI = 0.98; CFI = 0.98; χ(2)/gl = 2.71). The internal consistency for the six-item version was acceptable (ω = .71), and the construct validity with anxiety (r = .53) and depression (r = .38) measures was adequate.

CONCLUSION

The six-item version of the CSI demonstrated to be a reliable measure for assessing somatization symptoms in Spanish children.