The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Trait Anxiety Scale for Children

The availability of a valid and reliable tool that accurately measures and differentiates pre-operative anxiety level of children is crucial before any intervention can be appropriately planned, provided, and evaluated. The purposes of this study were to translate the original Trait Anxiety Scale for Children into Chinese and evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly translated scale for its utility in clinical practice and research. Five hundred and nineteen children from a primary school were recruited for this study. The instrument demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability, and strong evidence of content and construct validity. Factor analysis confirmed the construct validity of the scale with a good fit between the factor structure of the scale and the observed data. Results suggest that the Chinese version of the Trait Anxiety Scale for Children can be used as a self-report assessment tool in measuring trait anxiety level of Chinese children ages 7-12 years.