State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children

The most widely used self-report measure of anxiety

Charles D. Spielberger, C.D. Edwards, J. Montuori & R. Lushene

flower icon for STAISAD Based on the same theory as the STAI, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) distinguishes between a general proneness to anxious behavior rooted in the personality and anxiety as a fleeting emotional state. The instrument is designed to be used with upper elementary or junior high school aged children and consists of two twenty-item scales. The STAIC is the definitive instrument for measuring anxiety in children. The measure is easy to read and can be administered verbally to younger children.

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Translations of this instrument are available. For a complete list of translations, along with more details on our translation policy, please visit our translations index page.

About the STAICH

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) was initially developed as a research tool for the study of anxiety in elementary school children. It is comprised of separate, self-report scales for measuring two distinct anxiety concepts: state anxiety (S-Anxiety) and trait anxiety (T-Anxiety). The STAIC is similar in conception and structure to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) which provides measures of anxiety for adolescents and adults (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970). While especially constructed to measure anxiety in nine- to twelve-year old children, the STAIC may also be used with younger children with average or above reading ability and with older children who are below average in ability.

Contents of Manual

Procedures for administering and scoring the scales
Normative data and the N’s of these populations with percentile tables
Psychometric data of the scales
Reliability and validity of the scales
Correlations with other tests
Current research
References
Bibliography of research with the STAIC

Uses of the STAIC

Educational, psychological and health research
Clinical diagnosis
Differentiating anxiety from depression
Assessment of clinical anxiety in medical, surgical, psychosomatic, and psychiatric patients

STAIC State Anxiety

Evaluates how respondents felt at a particular time in the recent past and how they anticipate they will feel either in a specific situation that is likely to be encountered in the future or in a variety of hypothetical situations
Scores can be used to determine actual levels of S-Anxiety intensity, as an index of drive level, or as an indicator of changes in transitory anxiety experienced by children in counseling, psychotherapy, and behavior-modification programs
Assesses the level induced by stressful experimental procedures and by unavoidable real-life stressors such as school integration, examinations, dental treatment or imminent surgery

STAIC Trait Anxiety:

Proven useful for identifying children with high levels of neurotic anxiety and for selecting subjects for psychological experiments who differ in motivation or drive level
For evaluating the immediate and long-term effectiveness of clinical treatment procedures designed to reduce neurotic anxiety in children

Norm Groups

Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade elementary school children (two large samples in six different schools)

Norm Tables

Fourth, fifth and sixth grade elementary school children (reported by gender and by grade level)

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Inventory Booklet

Individuals respond to each item on a three-point rating scale, checking one of three alternatives that describes him or her best or indicates frequency of occurrence. Children generally require eight to twelve minutes to complete each scale, and less than twenty minutes to complete both.

Examples

The S-Anxiety scale consists of twenty statements that describe how respondents feel “right now, at this very moment.”

1.	I feel	very relaxed	relaxed	not relaxed
2.	I feel	very upset	upset	not upset

The T-Anxiety scale consists of twenty statements that describe how respondents "usually feel."

1.	I worry too much	hardly ever	sometimes	often
2.	I notice my heart beats fast	hardly ever	sometimes	often

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ABOUT THE

"The STAIC S-Anxiety scale consists of twenty statements that ask children how they feel at a particular moment in time. The STAIC T-Anxiety scale also consists of 20 item statements, but subjects respond to these items by indicating how they generally feel....

The S-Anxiety scale is designed to measure transitory anxiety states, that is, subjective, consciously perceived feelings of apprehension, tension, and worry that vary in intensity and fluctuate over time. The T-Anxiety scale measures relatively stable individual differences in anxiety proneness, that is, differences between children in the tendency to experience anxiety states. High T-Anxiety children are more prone to respond to situations perceived as threatening with elevations in S-Anxiety intensity than low T-Anxiety children.

--Spielberger et al, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Manual