Psychometric Properties and the Standardization of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire in 8–18-Year-Old Children and Adolescent

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and standardization of PSWQ-C questionnaire in a sample of children and adolescents aged 8-18 years. The statistical sample of this study included 1100 (581 girls and 519 boys). A sample of this study is includes 500 children aged 8 to 12 (286 girls and 214 boys) at the elementary School level, 300 adolescents aged 13 to 15 (150 girls and 150 boys) in middle school and 300 adolescents aged 16 to 18 (145 girls and 150 boys) in high/secondary school. First the Pen State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ-C) was translated to Persian, then it was back translated into English. After eliminating the linguistic problems, it was performed on 100 students (50 girls and 50 boys) to ensure the accuracy of its translation. After confirming translation, the final questionnaire was administered to 1100 students (581 girls and 519 boys) in Tehran. The results of study confirmed the one-factor model among children and adolescents.  Our findings provide evidence of the construct validity of the Pen State Worries Questionnaire in Iranian children and adolescents. Also, the reliability of the questionnaire was in a good range. Cronbach's alpha for one-factor model of children equaled 0.85 and for one-factor model of adolescents was 0.86.