Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Structured Clinical Interview for Separation Anxiety Symptoms

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Structured Clinical Interview for Separation Anxiety Symptoms (SCI-SAS). Methods: The study sample included 410 participants: 282 adult psychiatric outpatients with Axis I anxiety and/or major depressive disorders according to the DSM-IV criteria and 128 non-psychiatric control subjects. The presence or absence of a psychiatric disorder was determined by M.I.N.I. (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview). The Separation Anxiety Symptoms Inventory (SASI), Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA), Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS), Panic Agoraphobic Spectrum Scale-Self Report (PAS-SR) and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) were used to determine convergent and discriminant validity of the SCI-SAS. Results: The validity assessments revealed that both parts of the SCI-SAS have discriminated the patients from the healthy controls. There was a high correlation between the childhood and adulthood parts of the SCI-SAS and also of the SCI-SAS with SASI, ASA and PAS-SR. The SCI-SAS correlated moderately with ASI and weakly with PDSS. Factor analysis showed the existence of 3 factors for the SCI-SAS-childhood and 2 factors for the SCI-SAS-adulthood. The SCI-SAS had a moderate level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.57 for the childhood and 0.59 for the adulthood parts). The items in both parts of the SCI-SAS have been found to have a moderate consistency with the instrument. The SCI-SAS had a very good test-retest and inter-rater reliability. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the SCI-SAS has been found to be a valid and reliable tool that can be used in clinical studies. (Archives of Neuropsychiatry 2012;49: 6-13)