ABSTRACT

Objective:

The purpose of the study is to adapt the Preschool Anxiety Scale into Turkish in a valid and reliable way.

Method:

The sample consisted of 311 preschool girls and boys who attend private and public kindergartens in various parts of Istanbul. The scale consists of 29 items constructed in the form of a 5-point scale.

Results:

The results of confi rmatory factor analysis show that the scale consists of four factors. These factors are labeled “social anxiety”, “generalized anxiety”, “separation anxiety” and “specifi c phobia”. The Cronbach alpha coeffi cient was .93 for overall scale, for social phobia was .84, for generalized anxiety was .83, for separation anxiety was .73 and for specifi c phobia was .82. The test-retest reliability coeffi cient was 1 and almost 1 (r≤1) over three months.

Discussion:

The results of the study indicated that the scale can be used to measure preschool children’s anxiety levels.