The intolerance of uncertainty scale for children: Reliability, validity and adaptation study

Objective: The aim of this study is to adapt the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for Children (IUSC) into Turkish. Method: The sample of the study consists of 282 children aged 7-12 (M= 9.55, SD = 1.81) and their parents (M= 36.84, SD = 7.04). The Uncertainty Intolerance Scale (IUSC) for Children-Parent Form and Spence Anxiety Scale for Children-Parent (SASC-P) Form were used. The Cronbach Alpha internal consistency and two half test reliability coefficients were calculated for the reliability of the IUSC. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted for construct validity and the relationships between the IUSC and the SASC-Parent Form for content validity were evaluated. Results: The CFA analyzes revealed that the 12-item short form of the IUSC had good fit values, and one-factor and two-factor structure were confirmed. As a result of the analyzes significant correlations were found between the total score of the child and parent forms of IUSC-12 and the sub-factors of the SASC-P form, separation anxiety, panic attack, social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder and agoraphobia scores (child form respectively, r = .25, r = .37, r = .40, r = .25, r = .25; p < .001; parent form respectively, r = .26 , r = .32, r = .43, r = .31, r = .22; p < .001). The reliability analyzes revealed that Cronbach Alpha coefficient for the child form of the IUSC-12 short form was .91 and for the parent form .91. The two half-test Spearman-Brown correlation coefficients were found to be r = .89 for the child form and r = .90 for the parent. Discussion: The results show that parent and child form of the IUSC-12 short form provide reliable and valid results in evaluating the intolerance of uncertainty levels of children in Turkey.