Brief report: factor structure of the Childhood Illness Attitude Scales (CIAS)

OBJECTIVE: To examine the factor structure of the Childhood Illness Attitude Scales (CIAS). The CIAS is a 35-item self-report measure based on the Illness Attitudes Scales, designed for use with school-age children. The CIAS measures fears, beliefs, and attitudes associated with health anxiety and abnormal illness behavior in childhood. METHODS: CIAS item responses for 201 school-age children were subjected to principal-components analysis with oblique rotation. RESULTS: The CIAS was best conceptualized as comprising four factors: fears, help seeking, treatment experience, and symptom effects. Further factor analysis supported the notion that the CIAS can also be conceptualized as having a hierarchical structure, with four lower-order factors loading onto a single higher-order factor of health anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the CIAS possesses good psychometric properties, including factorial validity and internal consistency, and appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring children's health anxiety.