Nighttime coping response in children: Development and validation of a new scale

Coping strategies can play an important role in dealing with nighttime fears and related anxiety problems in school-aged children, but well-established self-reporting tools are lacking, and research in this area is limited. The aim of this study was to develop a new self-report instrument assessing coping strategies in school-aged children when facing nighttime fears, the Nighttime Coping Response Scale (NCRS), and to examine its psychometric properties. Participants were 786 children (48.7% boys) aged 8-12 years, who completed the NCRS and other measures related to anxiety and behavioral problems. The construction of the NCRS was based on relevant prior literature and experts' criteria. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses supported a three-factor structure, comprising 15 items measuring coping strategies related to self-control, social support seeking, and avoidance. The NCRS was shown to have good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and divergent validity. This research found preliminary support for the use of the NCRS, suggesting the potential suitability of this brief tool to be used by clinicians and researchers to identify and address the use of children's maladaptive coping strategies when dealing with nighttime fears. The NCRS could also be important to enable the development of further research in this field.