Anxiety sensitivity in school attending youth : exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the 18-item CASI in a multicultural South African sample
Date
2016-01-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers
Abstract
ENGLISH SUMMARY : Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders in youth. To date, the applicability of the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI) in youth from a low or middle income country (LMIC) setting on the African continent has not been assessed. A representative sample of 1149 secondary school learners from 29 schools in Cape Town, South Africa, participated in the study. Participants completed the CASI on a single occasion. One-, two-, and four-factor models of the CASI were assessed. A one-factor solution that comprised items predominantly represented by physical concerns appeared to provide the best fit to our data, however, relatively low variance (26%) was explained. Subsequent item deletion resulted in a 9-item ‘physical concerns’ factor that showed good construct reliability (0.83) but also explained a low amount of variance (35%). In terms of gender, a one-factor model provided the best fit, however, low variance was explained (i.e., 25%). Configural, metric and scalar invariance of the CASI by gender was determined. Our results suggest that the 18-item CASI is not applicable to our target population and may require adaptation in this population; however, replication of this study in other multicultural adolescent samples in South Africa is first needed to further assess the validity of the AS construct as measured by the CASI.
Description
CITATION: Martin, L., Kidd, M. & Seedat, S. 2016. Anxiety sensitivity in school attending youth: exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the 18-item CASI in a multicultural South African sample. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:1996, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01996.
The original publication is available at http://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/psychology
The original publication is available at http://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/psychology
Keywords
Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI), Anxiety sensitivity -- Cape Town (South Africa), High school students -- Cape Town (South Africa)
Citation
CITATION: Martin, L., Kidd, M. & Seedat, S. 2016. Anxiety sensitivity in school attending youth : exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the 18-item CASI in a multicultural South African sample. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:1996, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01996.