Psychometric Properties of the Dutch Child Avoidance Measure

Ellin Simon*, Henriëtta J. Bragt-de Jong, Petra Butler, Stephen P.H. Whiteside

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Avoidance is considered a hallmark feature of child anxiety, but convenient measures are scarce. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Child Avoidance Measure (CAM) in a Dutch population, focusing mainly on the child-version. We included children 8 to 13 years old from a community sample (n = 63, longitudinal design) and a sample of high-anxious children (n = 92, cross-sectional design). Regarding the child-version, the internal consistencies were acceptable to good with moderate test-retest reliability. The validity analyses showed encouraging results. High-anxious children had higher avoidance scores than children from a community sample. Regarding the parent-version, both the internal consistency and test-retest validity were excellent. Overall, this study confirmed the sound psychometric properties and usefulness of the CAM. Future studies should focus on the psychometric properties of the Dutch CAM in a clinical sample, assess its ecological validity more extensively, and examine more psychometric features of the parent-version.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages9
JournalChild Psychiatry & Human Development
Early online date13 Mar 2023
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 13 Mar 2023

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • Avoidance
  • Child
  • Child Avoidance Measure
  • Psychometric properties

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