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Validation of a clinically useful measure of children's state anxiety before medical procedures
Author(s) -
Ersig Anne L.,
Kleiber Charmaine,
McCarthy Ann Marie,
Hanrahan Kirsten
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal for specialists in pediatric nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1744-6155
pISSN - 1539-0136
DOI - 10.1111/jspn.12042
Subject(s) - anxiety , distress , psychological intervention , construct (python library) , clinical psychology , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , computer science , programming language
Purpose Assessment of children's anxiety in busy clinic settings is an important step in developing tailored interventions. This article describes the construct validation of the C hildren's A nxiety M eter‐ S tate ( CAM ‐ S ), a brief measure of state anxiety. Design and Methods Existing data were used to investigate the associations between child self‐reports of anxiety, parent reports of child anxiety, and observed child distress during an intravenous procedure. Results Children's ( n = 421) CAM ‐ S scores were significantly associated with all parent measures and observed distress ratings. Practice Implications Findings support the use of the CAM ‐ S for assessment of child anxiety in clinical settings.