Gender differences in Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI) dimensions.
We examined the hierarchical structure of the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI) as a function of gender and examined the occurrence of gender differences in anxiety sensitivity (AS) dimensions in a large nonclinical sample of children and adolescents (N = 1698). Separate principal components analyses (PCAs) on the 18 CASI items for the total sample, boys, and girls revealed similar lower-order three-factor structures for all groups. The three factors reflected Physical, Social/Control, and Psychological Concerns. PCAs on the lower-order factor scores revealed similar unidimensional higher-order solutions for all groups. Girls scored higher than boys on the Physical and, to a lesser extent, Social/Control Concerns factors; girls scored higher on the Physical Concerns factor relative to their scores on the Social/Control and Psychological Concerns factors; and boys scored higher on the Social/Control and Psychological Concerns factors relative to their scores on the Physical Concerns factor. Girls also scored higher than boys on the higher-order factor representing the Global AS construct. The present study provides additional support for the theoretical hierarchical structure of AS and suggests that there is a difference in the manifestation of AS between girls and boys.
Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4J1. tmwalsh@dal.ca
Trudi M
TM
Walsh
Sherry H
SH
Stewart
Elizabeth
E
McLaughlin
Nancy
N
Comeau
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009674:Nova Scotia; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012737:Sex Factors