PERGAMON Personality and Individual Differences 26 (1999) 99±112

The revised version of the Screen for Child Anxiety

Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-R): Factor
structure in normal children
Peter Muris a, *, Harald Merckelbach a, Henk Schmidt a, Birgit Mayer b
a
Department of Psychology, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
b
Department of Experimental Abnormal Psychology, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht,
The Netherlands
Received 18 December 1997

Abstract

The revised version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-R) is a
self-report questionnaire that measures symptoms of DSM-IV linked anxiety disorders in children. The
present study examined the factor structure of the SCARED-R in a sample of 674 normal Dutch school
children aged 8 to 13 years. Exploratory factor analysis (principal components with oblimin rotation)
clearly pointed in the direction of a 1-factor solution, suggesting that when applied to samples of normal
children, the SCARED-R is a unidimensional measure. Additional exploratory and con®rmatory factor
analyses carried out on parts of the SCARED-R provided some support for the presence of the
following factors: panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, school
phobia, social phobia and three types of speci®c phobias. Implications of these ®ndings for the use of
the SCARED-R are brie¯y discussed. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Anxiety disorders; Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders; Self-report questionnaire; Nor-
mal children; Factor analysis

1. Introduction

Anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychiatric problems in children. Estimates
for the presence of any anxiety disorder range between 5.7 and 17.7%, with half of them
exceeding the 10% rate (Costello and Angold, 1995). The latest edition of the Diagnostic and

* Corresponding author. E-mail: p.muris@psychology.unimaas.nl

S0191-8869/98/$19.00 # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

PII: S 0 1 9 1 - 8 8 6 9 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 3 0 - 5
100 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; APA, 1994) which is the most current
classi®catory system in many countries (including The Netherlands), recognizes the following
anxiety disorders in children: generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, panic
disorder, speci®c phobia, social phobia, obsessive±compulsive disorder and posttraumatic or
acute stress disorder. Epidemiological studies have revealed that generalized anxiety disorder,
separation anxiety disorder and speci®c phobias are the most commonly diagnosed anxiety
disorders, occurring in about 5% of the children. Social phobia and panic disorder are less
frequent with prevalence rates generally below 2%, while obsessive±compulsive disorder and
posttraumatic or acute stress disorders are even more rare. There is evidence to suggest that
subclinical manifestations of anxiety disorders are also relatively prevalent among children. For
example, Bell-Dolan et al. (1990) found that symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder,
separation anxiety disorder, and speci®c phobias were present in 20±30% of a sample of never-
psychiatrically ill children.
Structured and semistructured interviews can be used to reliably assess anxiety disorders
symptomatology in children. However, these interviews are time-consuming and often require
trained interviewers. Alternatively, self-report questionnaires can be employed to measure
anxiety symptoms in children. Currently, the three most widely used scales for this purpose are
the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS; Reynolds and Richmond, 1978), the
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC; Spielberger, 1973) and the Fear Survey
Schedule for Children, Revised (FSSC-R; Ollendick, 1983). It should be noted that these scales
are global and unidimensional and not keyed to the separate anxiety disorders as listed in the
DSM.
Recently, several attempts have been made to develop multidimensional questionnaires for
assessing childhood anxiety symptoms. A ®rst example is the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale
for Children (MASC; March et al., 1997), a self-report measure comprising four empirically-
derived domains of childhood anxiety: physical anxiety, harm avoidance, social anxiety and
separation anxiety. Another example is the Children's Anxiety Scale (CAS; Spence, 1997) that
taps symptoms of a number of DSM-de®ned anxiety disorders, namely panic disorder,
separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, obsessive±compulsive disorder and generalized
anxiety disorder. In addition, the CAS contains a physical fears scale which represents the
DSM-category of speci®c phobias. Interestingly, Spence (1997) showed in a factor-analytic
study that anxiety symptoms as listed in the CAS cluster into subtypes of anxiety problems
that are largely consistent with the classi®cation of anxiety disorders as proposed in the DSM.
The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED; Birmaher et al.,
1997) is also a multidimensional questionnaire that purports to measure DSM-de®ned anxiety
symptoms. Factor analysis performed on the SCARED scores of clinically referred children
revealed that the 38 items of the SCARED can be allocated to ®ve separate anxiety subscales.
Four of these subscales represent anxiety disorders that correspond with DSM categories,
namely panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and separation anxiety
disorder. The ®fth subscale is school phobia which, according to Birmaher et al. (1997, p. 551)
can best be considered as ``a common clinical entity that is seen both comorbidly and
independently from other anxiety disorders''. Muris (1997) revised the SCARED in three ways.
To begin with, school phobia items were joined to the separation anxiety disorder subscale.
This was done because the DSM (see especially the DSM-III-R; APA, 1987) views school
 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112 101

phobia as a symptom of separation anxiety disorder. Secondly, 15 new items were added in an
attempt to index symptoms of speci®c phobia. The DSM-IV distinguishes three subtypes:
animal phobia, situational±environmental phobia and blood-injection-injury phobia [see
Frederikson et al. (1996), Muris et al. (submitteda) who provided evidence for these three
separate categories of speci®c phobias]. Because speci®c fears and phobias are highly prevalent
among children (Bernstein et al., 1996), items of all three subtypes were included in the revised
SCARED. Thirdly, although obsessive±compulsive disorder and traumatic stress disorder are
relatively rare, an extra 13 items were added so that it would also be possible to tap symptoms
of these disorders with the revised SCARED. Thus, the ®nal 66-item revised version of the
SCARED purports to measure the symptoms of the entire anxiety disorders spectrum that,
according to the DSM-IV, may occur in children.
Previous research of our group (Muris et al., in press, 1998) has provided evidence for the
concurrent validity of the SCARED-R. For example, SCARED-R scores were found to be
positively related to levels of anxiety as indexed by traditional childhood anxiety measures.
More speci®cally, the SCARED-R total score correlated 0.86 with RCMAS, 0.62 with the
FSSC-R and 0.73 with the trait version of the STAIC.
The current study examined the factor structure of the SCARED-R in more detail. Normal
school children (N = 674) aged between 8 and 13 years completed the questionnaire. The main
purpose of the present study was to investigate whether factor analyses would reveal clusters of
items that are related to DSM categories in a meaningful way.

2. Method

2.1. Sample

674 children (330 boys and 344 girls) of 8 primary schools in the Maastricht area, The
Netherlands, completed the SCARED-R in their classrooms. Ages of the children ranged
between 8 and 13 years, with a mean age of 10.28 years (S.D. = 1.22). To enhance the
representativeness of the sample, schools were selected from urban (n = 5) and rural (n = 3)
areas and from low (n = 2), middle (n = 5) and high (n = 1) social class districts. More than
95% of the children were white. Consent to participate was obtained from schools and parents.
Approximately 90% of those invited to take part did so.

2.2. Questionnaire

The SCARED-R contains 66 items that can be allocated to 9 separate DSM-IV linked
subscales: panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder (including school phobia), generalized
anxiety disorder, social phobia, speci®c phobias (3 types: animal phobia, situational±
environmental phobia and blood-injection-injury phobia), obsessive±compulsive disorder and
traumatic stress disorder. The anxiety disorders, their essential DSM-IV (APA, 1994) features
and the belonging SCARED-R items are shown in Table 1. Children are asked to rate how
frequently they have experienced each symptom using a 3-point scale (i.e. 0 = almost never,
 102
Table 1
SCARED-R items belonging to the separate DSM-IV de®ned anxiety disorders. Mean rating of each item, item-total scale and item-subscale corre-
lations are shown in the right columns

Mean Item, Item,

Key features according to the rating total scale subscale
Anxiety disorder DSM-IV (APA, 1994) SCARED-R items (0±2) correlation correlation$

Panic disorder The presence of recurrent, When frightened, it is hard to breathe (1) 0.32 0.42 0.46
unexpected panic attacks (APA, When frightened, I feel like passing out (9) 0.17 0.43 0.47
1994, p. 397); a panic attack is a People tell me that I look nervous (14) 0.12 0.23 0.24
discrete period of intense fear or When frightened, I feel like going crazy (18) 0.16 0.41 0.47
discomfort that is accompanied by When frightened, I feel that things are not real (27) 0.31 0.40 0.35
at least 4 somatic or cognitive When frightened, my heart beats fast (32) 1.12 0.48 0.38
symptoms (e.g. palpitations, I feel weak and shaky (35) 0.25 0.40 0.43
sweating, trembling or shaking, When frightened, I sweat a lot (40) 0.38 0.36 0.39
fear of going crazy, fear of dying) I get really frightened for no reason (44) 0.24 0.47 0.49
(APA, 1994, p. 394) When frightened, I feel like I am choking (48) 0.17 0.45 0.56
I am afraid of having anxiety attacks (51) 0.23 0.50 0.50
When frightened, I feel like throwing up (56) 0.22 0.44 0.45
When frightened, I feel dizzy (60) 0.20 0.43 0.47

Separation Excessive anxiety concerning I get scared when I sleep away from home (7) 0.22 0.36 0.39
anxiety disorder separation from the home and I follow my parents wherever they go (13) 0.70 0.34 0.34
(including school from those to whom the person is I worry about sleeping alone (19) 0.28 0.42 0.40
phobia) attached (APA, 1994, p. 110); I have nightmares about my parents (29) 0.19 0.39 0.34
children with this disorder may be I have nightmares about bad happening to me (36) 0.53 0.57 0.42
reluctant or refuse to attend school I am afraid to be alone at home (45) 0.41 0.39 0.42
I don't like being away from my family (50) 0.71 0.44 0.39
I worry that bad happens to my parents (52) 0.82 0.57 0.51
I get headaches or stomach aches when I am at school (3) 0.29 0.28 0.24
I don't like going to school (17) 0.65 0.16 0.25
I worry about going to school (30) 0.20 0.33 0.42
P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112

I am scared to go to school (58) 0.12 0.42 0.42

Generalized Excessive anxiety and worry about I worry about others not liking me (8) 0.43 0.41 0.47
anxiety disorder a number of events or activities I am nervous (11) 0.88 0.41 0.36
(APA, 1994, p. 432) I worry about being as good as other kids (21) 0.36 0.47 0.49
I worry about things working out for me (38) 0.38 0.55 0.57
I am a worrier (41) 0.49 0.52 0.53
Table 1 (continued )

Mean Item, Item,

Key features according to the rating total scale subscale
Anxiety disorder DSM-IV (APA, 1994) SCARED-R items (0±2) correlation correlation$

People tell me I worry too much (49) 0.24 0.41 0.49

I worry about the future 0.45 0.43 0.48
I worry about how well I do things (57) 0.41 0.46 0.47
I worry about things that happened in the past (59) 0.42 0.49 0.40

Social phobia Marked and persistent fear of I don't like to be with people I don't know (4) 0.85 0.34 0.41
social or performance situations in I feel nervous with people I don't know well (15) 0.60 0.42 0.55
which embarrassment may occur I ®nd it hard to talk with people I don't know (47) 0.65 0.45 0.50
(APA, 1994, p. 411) I am shy with people I don't know well (53) 0.76 0.42 0.48

Speci®c phobias Marked and persistent fear of a I am afraid of an animal that is not really dangerous (22) 0.32 0.26 0.61
clearly discernable, circumscribed I am so scared of a harmless animal that I do not dare to 0.31 0.32 0.57
object or situation; exposure to the touch it (37)
phobic stimulus almost invariably I am afraid of an animal that most children do not fear 0.26 0.39 0.54
provokes an immediate anxiety (65)
response (APA, 1994, p. 405); When I see blood, I get dizzy (5) 0.29 0.27 0.31
subtypes include animals, I am afraid to visit the doctor (16) 0.28 0.34 0.42
situational, natural-environment I am afraid to visit the dentist (20) 0.35 0.35 0.39
and blood-injection-injury I am scared when I get an injection (33) 0.56 0.40 0.50
I am afraid to get a serious disease (34) 0.59 0.48 0.32
I feel scared when I watch an operation (42) 1.00 0.40 0.45
I don't like being in a hospital (66) 0.72 0.33 0.37
I am afraid of heights (2) 0.63 0.36 0.36
I get scared when there is thunder in the air (23) 0.39 0.41 0.40
P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112

I feel scared when I have to ¯y in an aeroplane (28) 0.39 0.28 0.34

I get scared in small, closed places (61) 0.58 0.56 0.43
I am afraid of the dark (63) 0.48 0.45 0.46
(continued on next page)
103
 104

Table 1 (continued )

Mean Item, Item,

Key features according to the rating total scale subscale
Anxiety disorder DSM-IV (APA, 1994) SCARED-R items (0±2) correlation correlation$

Obsessive± Recurrent obsessions and/or I want that things are in a ®xed order (6) 0.45 0.37 0.38
compulsive compulsions that are severe I think that I will be contaminated with a serious disease 0.38 0.37 0.29
disorder enough to be time consuming or (10)
cause marked distress or signi®cant I have thoughts that frighten me (12) 0.86 0.54 0.46
impairment; obsessions are I do things more than twice in order to check whether I 0.66 0.35 0.35
persistent ideas or thoughts that did it right (24)
cause marked anxiety or distress; I want things to be clean and tidy (26) 0.69 0.23 0.25
compulsions are repetitive I do things to get less scared of my thoughts (31) 0.50 0.49 0.48
behaviours the goal of which is to I doubt whether I really did something (39) 0.44 0.47 0.44
prevent or reduce anxiety and I fantasize about hurting other people (54) 0.23 0.33 0.27
distress (APA, 1994, p. 417±418) I have thoughts that I prefer not to have (62) 0.70 0.57 0.47

Traumatic stress Characteristic anxiety symptoms I have frightening dreams about a very aversive event I 0.61 0.50 0.53
disorder that occur after exposure to an once experienced (25)
extreme traumatic stress or I try not to think about a very aversive event I once 0.72 0.53 0.62
involving direct personal experienced (43)
experience of an event that I get scared when I think back to a very aversive event I 0.60 0.58 0.69
involves actual or threatened death once experienced (46)
or serious injury or witnessing an I have unbidden thoughts about a very aversive event I 0.54 0.57 0.63
event that involves death, injury or once experienced (64)
threat to the physical integrity of
another person (APA, 1994, p. 424)

SCARED-R = Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, Revised. $For the calculation of item-subscale correlations, animal phobia,
P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112

situational±environmental phobia and blood-injection-injury phobia were considered as separate subscales.

 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112 105

1 = sometimes and 2 = often). SCARED-R total score and subscale scores are derived by
summing relevant items.

2.3. Procedure

Children completed the SCARED-R in their classrooms. The instruction (``A number of
statements which refer to children's fears and anxiety are given below. Read each statement
and indicate how frequent you have that symptom: almost never, sometimes, or often. There are
no right or wrong answers''.) was read aloud by a research assistant while children read along.
Children were asked whether they had any questions about the instrument and told that their
responses would remain con®dential. In the younger classes (ages 8 and 9), SCARED-R items
were read aloud as children marked their responses. Older children completed the SCARED-R
on their own. A second research assistant or the teacher was always available to assist children
who had questions while completing the instrument and to ensure that children worked
independently.

2.4. Statistical analysis

The statistical package SPSS was used to carry out the exploratory factor analyses. For the
con®rmatory factor analyses, EQS, the structural equations modeling approach (Bentler, 1989),
was employed. With this approach, it becomes possible to test plausible alternative models that
may underlie a data set. EQS produces a wide range of goodness-of-®t indices. In the present
study, the following indices were used: (a) chi square divided by degrees of freedom (this value
should be about 2.00 or lower; the lower this value, the better the ®t), (b) the average absolute
standardized residuals (AASR; this value should be lower than 0.05; the lower this value, the
better the ®t) and (c) the comparative ®t index (CFI; this value should be 0.80 or higher for a
reasonable ®t; the higher this value, the better the ®t).

3. Results

3.1. General results

Table 1 also shows the mean ratings for the 66 SCARED-R items. As can be seen, the 10
most frequently reported symptoms were ``When frightened, my heart beats fast'', ``I feel
scared when I watch an operation'', ``I am nervous'', ``I have thoughts that frighten me'', ``I
don't like to be with people I don't know'', ``I worry that bad happens to my parents'', ``I am
shy with people I don't know'', ``I try not to think about a very aversive event I once
experienced'', ``I don't like being in a hospital'' and ``I don't like being away from my family''.
The 10 most rarely experienced symptoms were ``I am scared to go to school'', ``People tell me
that I look nervous'', ``When frightened, I feel like going crazy'', ``When frightened, I feel like
I am choking'', ``When frightened I feel like passing out'', ``I have nightmares about my
parents'', ``I worry about going to school'', ``When frightened, I feel dizzy'', ``When frightened,
I feel like throwing up'' and ``I get scared when I sleep away from home''.
106 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112

Table 2
General statistics (mean scores, Cronbach's alphas, sex di€erences, and relationship with age) of the SCARED-R

Total group Boys Girls

(N = 674) (n = 330) (n = 344) a r with age

Total score 30.43 (17.88) 25.63 (16.34)a 35.03 (18.10)b 0.94 0.13$
Panic disorder 3.89 (3.60) 3.13 (3.09)a 4.63 (3.90)b 0.80 0.06
Generalized anxiety disorder 4.05 (3.29) 3.51 (3.06)a 4.58 (3.42)b 0.79 0.01
Social phobia 2.86 (2.00) 2.48 (2.00)a 3.22 (1.94)b 0.70 0.12$
Separation anxiety disorder 5.12 (3.48) 4.34 (3.07)a 5.86 (3.68)b 0.71 0.16$
Obsessive±compulsive disorder 4.89 (3.19) 4.51 (3.20)a 5.26 (3.14)b 0.70 0.10$
Traumatic stress disorder 3.89 (3.60) 3.13 (3.09)a 4.63 (3.90)b 0.80 0.13$
Speci®c phobia, animal type 0.89 (1.33) 0.65 (1.15)a 1.13 (1.44)b 0.74 0.11$
Speci®c phobia, blood-injection-injury type 3.78 (2.75) 3.11 (2.59)a 4.42 (2.76)b 0.68 0.13$
Speci®c phobia, situational±environmental type 2.47 (2.20) 1.91 (1.95)a 3.00 (2.29)b 0.64 0.15$

SCARED-R = Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, Revised. Means in the same row that do not
share the same subscripts di€er at P < 0.005. $P < 0.01.

General statistics of the SCARED-R are presented in Table 2. Note that the SCARED-R is
a reliable instrument in terms of internal consistency. That is, Cronbach's alphas were 0.94 for
the total SCARED-R and ranged from 0.64 (situational±environmental phobia) to 0.80 (panic
disorder and traumatic stress disorder) for the separate SCARED-R subscales. In line with
these satisfactory values, most item-subscale correlations (more than 90%) were well above
0.30 (see Table 1).
Furthermore, signi®cant sex di€erences were found on SCARED-R total score [t(672) = 7.1,
P < 0.001], panic disorder [t(648.6, adjusted df ) = 5.5, P < 0.001], generalized anxiety disorder
[t(672) = 4.3, P < 0.001], social phobia [t(672) = 4.8, P < 0.001], separation anxiety disorder
[t(659.6, adjusted df) = 5.9, P < 0.001], obsessive±compulsive disorder [t(672) = 3.1, P < 0.005],
traumatic stress disorder [t(667.5, adjusted df ) = 5.5, P < 0.001], animal phobia [t(650.9,
adjusted df) = 4.9, P < 0.001], blood-injection-injury phobia [t(672) = 6.3, P < 0.001] and
situational±environmental phobia [t(662.4, adjusted df ) = 6.7, P < 0.001]: girls more frequently
reported anxiety disorder symptoms than boys.
Finally, small but signi®cant, negative correlations were found between age, on the one
hand, and most of the SCARED-R scales, on the other hand. This result suggests that anxiety
disorders symptoms declined with age.

3.2. Factor structure of the 66-item SCARED-R

A principal-components factor analysis with Oblimin rotation (i.e. a rotation which accepts
that factors are intercorrelated) was performed on the 66-item SCARED-R. This analysis
revealed 17 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.00. The scree plot, however, clearly
suggested a 1-factor solution accounting for 20.5% of the variance (eigenvalues of the ®rst 17
factors were 13.50, 2.51, 2.23, 2.00, 1.76, 1.68, 1.63, 1.42, 1.38, 1.33, 1.25, 1.17, 1.14, 1.12, 1.09,
1.04 and 1.02). The item-total scale correlations of the 66 SCARED-R items are presented in
the right columns of Table 1. As can be seen, 1 item (``I don't like going to school'') correlated
 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112 107

Table 3
Results of factor analysis (principal components, oblimin rotation) of the original SCARED (item numbers are
given between parentheses)

Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5

Panic disorder
When frightened, it is hard to breathe (1) 0.58
When frightened, I feel like passing out (9) 0.59
People tell me that I look nervous (14) 0.28 0.42
When frightened, I feel like going crazy (18) 0.59
When frightened, I feel that things are not real (27) 0.37 0.44
When frightened, my heart beats fast (32) 0.37 0.42
I feel weak and shaky (35) 0.57
When frightened, I sweat a lot (40) 0.46
I get really frightened for no reason (44) 0.58
When frightened, I feel like I am choking (48) 0.73
I am afraid of having anxiety attacks (51) 0.58
When frightened, I feel like throwing up (56) 0.57
When frightened, I feel dizzy (60) 0.58
Generalized anxiety disorder
I worry about others not liking me (8) 0.61
I am nervous (11) 0.38 0.40
I worry about being as good as other kids (21) 0.60
I worry about things working out for me (38) 0.67
I am a worrier (41) 0.63
People tell me I worry too much (49) 0.61
I worry about the future (55) 0.66
I worry about how well I do things (57) 0.57
I worry about things that happened in the past (59) 0.41 0.48
Social phobia
I don't like to be with people I don't know (4) 0.61
I feel nervous with people I don't know well (15) 0.74
I ®nd it hard to talk with people I don't know (47) 0.67
I am shy with people I don't know well (53) 0.69
School phobia
I get headaches or stomach aches when I am at school (3) 0.50
I don't like going to school (17) 0.32
I worry about going to school (30) 0.53 0.39
I am scared to go to school (58) 0.53 0.38
Separation anxiety disorder
I get scared when I sleep away from home (7) 0.48
I follow my parents wherever they go (13) 0.46
I worry about sleeping alone (19) 0.61
I have nightmares about my parents (29) 0.29
I have nightmares about bad happening to me (36) 0.46 0.25
I am afraid to be alone at home (45) 0.66
I don't like being away from my family (50) 0.49 0.38
I worry that bad happens to my parents (52) 0.57 0.42
Eigenvalue 8.45 1.91 1.86 1.47 1.32
% Explained variance 22.22 5.03 4.89 3.88 3.47

SCARED = Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders.

108 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112

<0.20 with total SCARED-R score, 6 items correlated <0.30, whereas the remaining 59 items
all correlated substantially (i.e. >0.30) with total SCARED-R. A second order factor analysis
(in which SCARED-R subscales scores are factor analyzed) also pointed in the direction of a
1-factor solution: only 1 factor with an eigenvalue greater than 1.00 (i.e. 4.87) emerged. This
factor accounted for 52.06% of the variance. Taken together, the results of exploratory factor
analysis suggest that in this sample of normal children, the SCARED-R possesses a 1-factor
structure.
Con®rmatory factor analyses were carried out to further examine the factor structure of the
SCARED-R. Three alternative models were investigated. The ®rst model examined the degree
to which all symptoms can be viewed as re¯ecting a single, homogeneous dimension of anxiety
rather than a number of anxiety clusters (the 1-factor model). The second model postulated
that the data would be explained by nine independent factors (the 9-uncorrelated-factors
model). The third and ®nal model also assumed 9 separate factors but allowed these factors to
be intercorrelated (the 9-correlated-factors model).
Results of the con®rmatory factor analyses revealed the following goodness-of-®t values for
the 1-factor model: chi square/df = 2.96, AASR = 0.04 and CFI = 0.66. For the 9-uncorrelated
factors model, these values were: chi square/df = 3.48, AASR = 0.15 and CFI = 0.56. For the
9-correlated factors model, values were: chi square/df = 2.26, AASR = 0.05 and CFI = 0.78.
These results, in particular the insucient CFIs, indicate that none of the models provided a
satisfactory ®t to the SCARED-R data.

3.3. Factor structure of the original 38-item SCARED

An additional principal components factor analysis with Oblimin rotation was conducted on
the 38 items of the original SCARED. Again, a very strong ®rst factor emerged, together with
4 other factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.00. Table 3 displays the 38 SCARED items and
their loadings on these 5 factors after rotation. As can be seen, most items loaded convincingly
on their supposed factor. Together, these ®ve factors accounted for 39.49% of the variance.
Thus, in this sample of normal children, the factor structure of the original 38-item SCARED
(Birmaher et al., 1997) was replicated.
A con®rmatory factor analysis revealed that a 5-correlated-factors model provided the best
®t for the original SCARED. Goodness-of-®t indices were all satisfactory: chi square/df = 2.45,
AASR = 0.04 and CFI = 0.84.

3.4. Factor structure of the new SCARED-R speci®c phobia scales

A ®nal factor analysis was carried out on the 15 items of the SCARED-R that intend to
measure speci®c phobias. Results revealed three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.00,
declaring 44.37% of the variance. Table 4 shows SCARED-R speci®c phobia items and their
loadings on the 3 factors. As expected, blood-injection-injury type items loaded convincingly
on the ®rst factor, animal type items on the second factor and situational±environmental type
items on the third factor.
A con®rmatory factor analysis indeed showed that the 3-factor model of the SCARED-R
speci®c phobia items was satisfactory: chi square/df = 2.98, AASR = 0.04 and CFI = 0.90.
 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112 109

Table 4
Results of factor analysis (principal components, oblimin rotation) of the new SCARED-R speci®c phobia scales
(item numbers are given between parentheses)

Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3

Speci®c phobia, blood-injection-injury type

When I see blood, I get dizzy (5) 0.38
I am afraid to visit the doctor (16) 0.74
I am afraid to visit the dentist (20) 0.66
I am scared when I get an injection (33) 0.75
I am afraid to get a serious disease (34) 0.36 0.40
I feel scared when I watch an operation (42) 0.51 0.47
I don't like being in a hospital (66) 0.54

Speci®c phobia, animal type

I am afraid of an animal that is not really dangerous (22) 0.85
I am so scared of a harmless animal that I do not dare to touch it (37) 0.81
I am afraid of an animal that most children do not fear (65) 0.76

Speci®c phobia, situational±environmental type

I am afraid of heights (2) 0.56
I get scared when there is thunder in the air (23) 0.65
I feel scared when I have to ¯y in an aeroplane (28) 0.57
I get scared in small, closed places (61) 0.66
I am afraid of the dark (63) 0.67

Eigenvalue 3.98 1.54 1.22

% Explained variance 25.97 10.29 8.11

SCARED-R = Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, Revised.

4. Discussion

The current study investigated the factor structure of the SCARED-R in a sample of normal
school children aged 8±13 years. Results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest that the 66-
item SCARED-R primarily has a 1-factor structure. By means of con®rmatory factor analysis,
several models for the SCARED-R (i.e. 1-factor model, 9-uncorrelated-factors model and 9-
correlated-factors model) were tested. However, none of these models was found to be
satisfactory. Additional exploratory and con®rmatory factor analyses carried out on parts of
the SCARED-R provided some support for the presence of a number of anxiety symptoms
clusters. To begin with, with the 38 original SCARED items the 5-factor structure (re¯ecting
the anxiety categories of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety
disorder, social phobia and school phobia) as found by Birmaher et al. (1997) was replicated,
in spite of the fact that the latter study relied on a clinical sample. Furthermore, factor analysis
performed on the speci®c phobia items of the SCARED-R revealed three factors that ®t with
the subtypes that are listed in the DSM-IV (APA, 1994; see also Frederikson et al., 1996).
Thus, as intended, SCARED-R speci®c phobia items can be grouped into three subscales,
namely blood-injection-injury phobia, animal phobia and situational±environmental phobia.
110 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112

The present studies failed to ®nd a satisfactory factor structure for the complete SCARED-
R. More speci®cally, both exploratory and con®rmatory factor analysis did not yield the
expected 9 factors representing the anxiety disorders spectrum as de®ned in the DSM. One
could argue that this negative result is due to the fact that the present study relied on a sample
of normal children. It is still possible that in samples of clinically referred children, the
hypothesized DSM-like factor structure of the SCARED-R will emerge. Future studies should
address this issue. Furthermore, it should be noted that a good factor structure is not a
conditio sine qua non of a measure's validity. The SCARED-R is closely linked to clinical
practice which increasingly relies on the DSM for classifying anxiety and other mental
disorders in children. Frequently employed childhood anxiety measures such as the STAIC, the
RCMAS, and the FSSC-R do not have this direct link to DSM-de®ned diagnostic categories.
Not surprisingly then, research has frequently shown that these traditional indices lack
discriminant validity. That is, these questionnaires are unable to di€erentiate between anxiety
disordered children and children with other types of psychopathology (e.g. Perrin and Last,
1992). The SCARED-R is promising in this respect in that it seems to possess adequate
discriminant validity. Evidence for this comes from two sources. First, Birmaher et al. (1997)
found that the original SCARED di€erentiates between anxiety disordered children, children
with depression, and children with disruptive disorders. Second, there is evidence to suggest
that the SCARED-R satisfactorily discriminates children with a speci®c anxiety disorder from
children without that particular anxiety disorder (Muris et al., submittedb).
Using the SCARED-R in a sample of normal children, the current study replicated some
phenomena that previous surveys (relying on other instruments) have found to be very robust.
First, as in other studies, girls were found to have higher anxiety scores than boys (see, for a
review, Bernstein and Borchardt, 1991). Furthermore, age was inversely related to SCARED-R
scores. Again, this is in agreement with earlier studies that showed that anxiety symptoms
decline with age. In the present study, this age e€ect was most evident for separation anxiety
disorder symptoms. Birmaher et al. (1997) also showed that especially separation anxiety
symptoms are more common among younger children than among older children.
Note that the present ®ndings (and those of Birmaher et al., 1997) suggest that school
phobia can best be treated as a distinct anxiety disorder. Although it is generally assumed that
this type of phobia is predominantly linked to separation anxiety disorder (e.g. DSM-III-R;
APA, 1987), several authors (Ollendick and Mayer, 1984; Atkinson et al., 1985; Bernstein and
Gar®nkel, 1986; Last and Francis, 1988) have noted that refusal to go to school can also point
in the direction of fear of a speci®c stimulus in the school setting (which would suggest the
presence of a speci®c phobia) and/or fear of certain social situations such as speaking in class
(which would suggest the presence of social phobia).
What do the present ®ndings mean for the use of the SCARED-R? Clearly, the original
SCARED (comprising the subscales panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder, generalized
anxiety disorder, social phobia, and school phobia) has reasonable psychometric properties
and, consequently, seems to be an acceptable clinical or research tool. The same is true for the
added speci®c phobias scales of the SCARED-R. However, more research is required with
regard to the traumatic stress disorder and the obsessive±compulsive disorder subscales of the
SCARED-R. Although the traumatic stress disorder subscale might be valuable in clinical
settings, more information is needed about what precisely this scale measures. For example,
 P. Muris et al. / Personality and Individual Di€erences 26 (1999) 99±112 111

what type of experiences do children refer to when they respond with ``sometimes'' or ``often''
to items such as ``I get scared when I think back of a very aversive event I once experienced''?
Much the same is true for the SCARED-R obsessive±compulsive disorder subscale. Future
studies should compare this subscale with other instruments that measure this disorder in
children, e.g. the child version of the Leyton Obsessional Inventory (LOI; Berg et al., 1986).

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