The spider anxiety and disgust screening for children: Reliability and validity of a screening for children

Abstract

ObjectivesSpecific fears, such as fear of spiders, are often used as a model for studying the development of other fears because several studies suggest that the underlying processes of fear are similar. For the screening of spider fear in children, a good, fast, and reliable screening instrument is needed. Unfortunately, however, such an instrument does not appear to exist yet. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to develop a short, reliable, and valid questionnaire to assess spider fear and spider disgust in children, the Spider Anxiety and Disgust Screening for Children (SADS‐C).MethodsIn Study 1, we tested the items of the SADS‐C. In Study 2, we tested the psychometric properties related to the validity and reliability of the SADS‐C. In Study 3, we administered the SADS‐C in a large sample in order to provide normative data.ResultsThe results indicate good validity and reliability of the SADS‐C; it was able to predict Spider Phobia Questionnaire for Children‐C, Screen for Child Anxiety‐Related Emotional Disorders‐animal, and Behavioural Assessment Test Scores. The studies were all community‐based samples; none of the children were actually seeking help for their spider fear.ConclusionsThe SADS‐C is a suitable questionnaire for assessing spider fear and disgust in children and is very suitable for epidemiological studies or for the screening of children in experimental research for which there is currently no appropriate instrument.