Ivelina Tsocheva, Satoko Sasagawa, George Georgiou and Cecilia Essau&nbs
The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Bulgarian translation of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) in a community sample of adolescents (N=700), aged 13 to 17 years, in Bulgaria. In addition to the SCAS, all participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC). The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.92) and the validity of the Bulgarian translation of the SCAS was excellent. The SCAS total scores correlated significantly with the CES-DC and the SDQ total scores. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the same six-factor structure as the original SCAS. The SCAS proved to be a reliable and valid measure of anxiety symptoms among adolescents in Bulgaria.