Psychometric Properties of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children in a Large Clinical Sample

Abstract

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children (PSWQ-C; Chorpita, Tracey, Brown, Collica, & Barlow, 1997) is a 14-item self-report measure of worry in children and adolescents. Although the PSWQ-C has demonstrated favorable psychometric properties in small clinical and large community samples, this study represents the first psychometric evaluation of the PSWQ-C in a large clinical sample (N = 491). Factor analysis indicated a two-factor structure, in contrast to all previously published findings on the measure. The PSWQ-C demonstrated favorable psychometric properties in this sample, including high internal consistency, high convergent validity with related constructs, and acceptable discriminative validity between diagnostic categories. The performance of the 3 reverse-scored items was closely examined, and results indicated retaining all 14 items.

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children: Age, Gender and Clinical Invariance

“…PSWQ-C scores can range between 0 and 42, with higher scores indicating greater levels of worry. The psychometric properties of the PSWQ-C are adequate both in community and in clinical samples [9,[11][12][13][14][15]. Internal consistency coefficients range from .82 [14] to .91 [15].…”

Penn State Worry Questionnaire: structure and psychometric properties of the Chinese version

“…Hazlett-Stevens et al(2004) demonstrated a weak correlation between the five-reviseditem factor and GAD, which was measured by a self-reported questionnaire. However, Pestle et al (2008) found that, in the study of the PSWQ for children, the reverse-scored items can predict the variability in clinician-reported ratings of generalized anxiety, but not self-reported anxiety. This implies that the revised items, Factor 2, may have an independent role, distinct from Factor 1 of the PSWQ.…”

A culturally-sensitive cognitive model of worry in African American youth.

“…Indeed, the mean self-reported worry in the current sample was more analogous to that previously found in a clinical sample (Pestle, Chorpita, & Schiffman, 2008). These findings were consistent with Silverman and colleagues (1995) who found that African American children reported more worries than their non-Hispanic White and Hispanic counterparts, particularly in the areas of personal harm, family, and war.…”

“…Validity analyses of the PSWQ-C have found this measure to be significantly convergent with related constructs, including GAD diagnosis, self-reported GAD symptoms, depression, self-reported anxious symptoms, and negative affect (Chorpita et al, 1997;Esbjorn et al, 2013;Muris et al, 2001;Pestle et al, 2008). Internal consistency was good in the current sample (α= .85).…”

“…Responses were coded as 1= less than $10,000; 2= $10, 000-$19,999; 3= $20,000-$29,999; 4= $30,000-$39,999; 5= $40,000-$49,999; 6= $50,000-$59,999; 7 = $60,000-$69,999; 8= $70,000-$79,999; 9= $80,000-$89,999; and 10= $90 consistently supported a unifactorial model of the measure when the three reverse-scored items are eliminated (Chorpita et al, 1997;Muris et al, 2001;Pestle et al, 2008).…”