Validation of the Portuguese version of the Youth Anxiety Measure for DSM-5 (YAM-5-I)

Abstract

Early intervention in anxiety symptomatology in school-aged children and adolescents is an effective way to prevent later psychopathology. Several measures have been developed to identify these symptoms although few of them rely on the latest criteria for anxiety disorders and, therefore, can be outdated. The Youth Anxiety Measure for DSM-5 (YAM-5) is a recently developed self-report instrument that assesses symptoms of the main anxiety disorders according to the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Already translated into several languages, this instrument has consistently revealed good psychometric properties. In this validation study, we translated and analyzed the psychometric properties of YAM-5-I in a Portuguese community sample including 300 participants. Data was collected using an online survey platform. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Parallel Analysis of data revealed a four-factor model accounting for 45% of the total variance in Part I of YAM-5, which included the scales of Separation Anxiety Disorder, Selective Mutism, Panic Disorder, and a fourth factor merging Social and Generalized Anxiety Disorders. This four-factor model was confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, revealing a better fit to the data than the original model. High internal consistency of the YAM-5-I was confirmed (ω = 0.88), as well as its convergent validity with similar symptomatology (correlations ranging from 0.38 to 0.74, except for the Selective Mutism Scale). The sample size can be a limitation of the present study, and cultural aspects could have influenced our results on the YAM-5-I four-factor model (different from the original version with five factors). Overall, our study supported the good psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the YAM-5-I, therefore, consisting of a valid and updated tool for screening anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents.