Psychometrics of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children in Latinx adolescents.

Abstract

Ensuring that evidence-based assessment measures of anxiety are reliable and valid in Latinx youth samples is a critical prerequisite for research aimed at addressing the anxiety-related disparities this population experiences. The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC;March et al., 1997) is a widely used measure of anxiety in children and adolescents, yet the psychometric properties of the MASC among Latinx youth have only been examined in one small-scale study. To address this gap, the present study sought to identify the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the English version of the MASC in Latinx adolescents. A battery of questionnaires including the MASC and the Youth Self-Report (YSR; Achenbach, 1991) was administered to a sample of 676 Latinx adolescents (aged 13-17; 52.5% female). Procedures were completed in a classroom setting at a high school located in a rural, predominately Latinx community. Confirmatory factor analysis using diagonally weighted least squares estimation provided support for the original four-factor structure of the MASC, with model fit improved by moving one item related from the Harm Avoidance to the Social Anxiety subscale. Subscales and the total score showed excellent reliability and the total score demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity. The present study supports the MASC as a reliable and valid measure for assessing anxiety in English-speaking Latinx youth. Findings broaden a literature that has infrequently considered the psychometric properties of anxiety measures in diverse youth samples. Public Significance StatementA common self-report assessment of anxiety for youth was shown to appropriately measure anxiety in a rural, Latinx adolescent sample. The availability of reliable and valid assessment tools is an important step in the clinical treatment of anxiety and the mitigation of anxiety-related disparities in this population.