Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11000/31078

The Nighttime Fears Scale: Development and psychometric evidence of a standardized self-report scale to assess nighttime fears in children


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Title:
The Nighttime Fears Scale: Development and psychometric evidence of a standardized self-report scale to assess nighttime fears in children
Authors:
Orgilés, Mireia  
Morales, Alexandra
Fernández-Martínez, Iván
Espada, José P.
Department:
Departamentos de la UMH::Psicología de la Salud
Issue Date:
2021
URI:
https://hdl.handle.net/11000/31078
Abstract:
Nighttime fears are highly prevalent in children and are linked to children’s distress and internalizing problems, especially childhood anxiety. Although its assessment may be critical, there is a lack of available standardized self-reports. This study aimed to describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Nighttime Fears Scale (NFS), a new standardized self-report for assessing nighttime fears in school-aged children. The con struction of the scale was based on prior relevant research and involvement of researchers and clinicians, experts in childhood anxiety, and fears. A total of 794 Spanish-speaking children (51.1 % girls) aged 8–12 years completed the NFS along with measures of anxiety, sleep problems, internalizing and externalizing problems, and positive behaviors. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure of the NFS, consisting of 21 items measuring a range of potentially fear-provoking stimuli at nighttime. Strong internal consistency (alphas ranging from .87 to .94), adequate test-retest reliability, and evidence of convergent, divergent and incremental validity was found. This study provides initial support for the use of the NFS by clinicians and researchers, suggesting that it is a promising tool for a rapid and easily-administered assessment to identify the presence and intensity levels of a set of common children’s nighttime fears.
Keywords/Subjects:
Nighttime Fears Scale
Self-report scale
Validity
Nighttime fears
Children
Knowledge area:
CDU: Filosofía y psicología: Psicología
Type of document:
application/pdf
Access rights:
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102369
Appears in Collections:
Artículos- Psicología de la Salud



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