School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China.
Center for Big Data Research in Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China.
BMC Psychol. 2023 Nov 27;11(1):414. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01463-1.
The Macquarie Anxiety Behavioural Scale (MABS) is a newly developed scale to assess anxiety in children and teenagers. The present study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the MABS, as well as the measurement invariance across different age groups in a preschool-aged sample.
A total of 1007 parents with children aged 3-6 years participated in the study. Internal consistency was assessed by calculating Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega and average inter-item correlation values. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the five-factor model. Multi-group CFA was conducted to test the measurement equivalence across different age groups (3- and 4-year-olds and 5- and 6-year-olds). Convergent, divergent, and criterion-related validity were assessed with Pearson correlation coefficients.
Internal consistency for the MABS total score was good and that of the subscales was acceptable. The CFA results showed that the five-factor structure of the MABS was supported in preschoolers (e.g., CFI = 0.929, TLI = 0.914, RMSEA = 0.050). In addition, scalar invariance of the MABS was supported across different age groups (e.g., ΔCFI = - 0.003, ΔTLI = 0, ΔRMSEA = 0). Furthermore, the MABS showed good convergent and divergent validity as well as criterion-related validity.
The Chinese version of the MABS demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and appeared to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring anxiety in preschool children.
麦格理焦虑行为量表（MABS）是一种新开发的用于评估儿童和青少年焦虑的量表。本研究旨在评估 MABS 中文版本的信度和效度，以及在学龄前样本中不同年龄组之间的测量不变性。
共有 1007 名 3-6 岁儿童的家长参与了研究。采用 Cronbach's alpha、McDonald's omega 和平均项目间相关值来评估内部一致性。采用验证性因子分析（CFA）来检验五因素模型。多组 CFA 用于检验不同年龄组（3 岁和 4 岁组以及 5 岁和 6 岁组）之间的测量等效性。采用 Pearson 相关系数评估收敛、发散和效标关联效度。
MABS 总分的内部一致性良好，分量表的内部一致性可接受。CFA 结果表明，MABS 的五因素结构在学龄前儿童中得到支持（例如，CFI=0.929，TLI=0.914，RMSEA=0.050）。此外，MABS 在不同年龄组之间支持标度不变性（例如，ΔCFI=-0.003，ΔTLI=0，ΔRMSEA=0）。此外，MABS 显示出良好的收敛和发散效度以及效标关联效度。
MABS 中文版本具有良好的心理测量学特性，似乎是一种用于测量学龄前儿童焦虑的有效且可靠的工具。
