Separation anxiety: validity and reliability of assessment tools

• Main Authors: Aitana Fernández- Sogorb, María del Pilar Aparicio-Flores, María José Hernández-Amorós, María Encarnación Urrea-Solano
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Asociación Nacional de Psicología Evolutiva y Educativa de la Infancia Adolescencia Mayores y Discapacidad 2018-04-01
• Series: INFAD
• Subjects: ansiedad por separación; instrumentos; evaluación; niños; adolescentes
• Online Access: http://www.infad.eu/RevistaINFAD/OJS/index.php/IJODAEP/article/view/1187

Separation anxiety is problematic when its characteristic symptoms, such as anguish or resistance, are experienced intensely and constantly. The disorder that results from this excessive anxious manifestation tends to begin in childhood and continue in adolescence, causing serious consequences in adulthood. Therefore, it is convenient to detect and treat this pathology as soon as possible. In this sense, the present research aimed to analyze the construct validity (factorial structure) and the reliability (internal consistency and temporal stability) of the tools designed to assess separation anxiety in children and adolescents. An exhaustive search was made in interdisciplinary, psychological and educational databases, using terms related to the disorder, assessment, childhood and adolescence. Of all the records identified in the search, only those that responded to the purpose of the study were selected. The tools analyzed were finally the following: Separation Anxiety -Assessment Scale - Child Version, Separation Anxiety Scale for Children, Separation Anxiety Avoidance Inventory – Child and Parent Version, and Children’s Separation Anxiety Scale. All of them are composed by factors that allow identifying situations generating separation anxiety. Furthermore, the internal consistency and temporal stability indexes provided by the corresponding studies are satisfactory in the vast majority. These results demonstrate the existence of tools for assessing separation anxiety that provide valid and reliable scores to be used by professionals in clinical and educational psychology.